Forever Yours
by Mertz
Summary: Forbidden love and the trauma it can create.  K/A focused.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, long time no posting…I know. It took me a while to get focused enough on one story to finish it. So, while I have several unfinished stories awaiting me, I hope you enjoy this one as I work on them. Many thanks to my friends, Wade Wells, Xia Cheyenne and CMS for the encouragement and editing…love you girls!

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

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Forever Yours…

Planet Arus…MedTech

It's the middle of the night and the sounds of the machines around the room are driving her crazy with their continuous humming and beeping, but...at the same time...that same beeping is reassuring…it means his heart is still beating. Princess Allura looks up; she had been resting on her arms while leaning over Keith's bed. As her eyes move over the man in front of her, tears once again run down her cheeks as she takes in the bruising on his face… her eyes stopping on the tube going down his throat.

Hands shaking, Allura once again takes his scratched and bruised hand within hers as she whispers to him, "Hold on Keith…don't you dare leave me."

Two weeks later:

Keith sighs as he slowly and painfully sits up in the bed he still occupies in MedTech. He watches Dr. Gorma as he runs through the items on his data-pad. The doctor's eyes moving from the monitors back to the data-pad as he makes a notation before his eyes move again. Stifling his impatience, Keith calmly asks, "So when may I leave doctor?"

Keeping his head down, Dr. Gorma finishes his notations, doing his best not to smile at the commander's obvious impatience. Taking a moment longer than necessary to check what he has written, Dr. Gorma finally looks back up at Keith and studies him for several moments thinking. '_While all of the swelling is gone, some of the bruises are still visible, although they are yellowish colored now, indicating the final stages of healing.'_

However, it isn't the bruises that worry Dr. Gorma, it's the blows to the chest the commander had taken in his latest bout with Prince Lotor. A broken rib had punctured the commander's lung and a sword wound had come within an inch of his heart. Shuddering at how close the man before him had come to death, Dr. Gorma takes a deep breath before responding, knowing what kind of fight he is going to have on his hands shortly. "Commander, I know how much you want to be released, but given the extent of your injuries…I would feel better keeping you here at least two more days for observation and rehabilitation."

Managing to withhold a snort, Keith keeps his voice calm, "But I feel fine doctor, and I would rest better in my own bed."

Dr. Gorma doesn't contain his own snort of disbelief, "Like you would rest."

Flushing crimson, Keith opens his mouth to argue only to be cut off, "No Commander, you will stay here at least two more days and only when I am satisfied that you won't reinjure yourself will I release you."

Keith throws his head back into his pillow in frustration then grimaces as his broken ribs throb with the movement. Dr. Gorma raises an eyebrow at him having caught the grimace on the commander's face. Giving up, Keith lets out a sigh, "Fine…"

Nodding, Dr. Gorma turns to leave, pausing as the door opens and Princess Allura walks in. The doctor smiles in greeting before passing her to leave the room. She waits until the door closes before approaching the bed, "Hello Keith, Dr. Gorma wouldn't release you I take it?"

Swallowing the reply his irritation wants to give her, Keith releases a sigh instead. Glancing at the clock, he turns his face back to her, "Kind of late, isn't it Princess?"

Shrugging, Allura moves to sit beside him on the bed, "I didn't feel like sitting in the rec room after dinner and thought you might like some company."

A feeling of warmth floods Keith at her nearness, the same warmth he always feels when she is near. Saying nothing, he watches as she takes his hand within hers to examine it closely. Taking a deep breath, Keith forces his body to relax as her fingers lightly trace across a healing gash near his thumb. Her blue eyes rise and mesmerize him as she asks, "Does it still hurt?"

His mind barely registers the question as he stutters, "W…what?"

Allura turns her gaze back to the hand she is holding, "Your wounds."

Still trying to keep his body calm, Keith takes a few breaths before replying, "Not nearly as much." He shifts uncomfortably then grimaces, catching her raising an eyebrow at him before adding, "As long as I don't move much."

Smiling at him for a moment, it hits her how he came within an inch of losing his life and the smile falls off her face… a look of sorrow entering her eyes as tears threaten to fall. The princess looks down and Keith reaches for her chin with his free hand, making her look at him, "Allura…what's wrong?"

Tears slide out of her eyes and down her cheeks. He starts wiping them away, "Please Princess, don't cry…tell me what's wrong so I can help…"

She cuts him off, "So you can help?" Allura takes both of his hands within hers, "Keith, do you know how close you came to dying?"

He watches her wordlessly as she wraps both of his hands around her waist while leaning into him… resting her cheek on his shoulder. A sob escapes her as she gasps out, "You…almost died…and I…never would…have gotten to…say…" She stops and falls apart completely.

Flabbergasted, a small spark of hope enters his heart and begins to grow as he quietly asks, "Say what Allura?" As she continues to cry, Keith lifts one his hands to lift her chin…making her look at him again, "What do you want to say?"

Sniffling, she reaches up with her fingertips to trace his lips as she stares into his eyes…watching them darken. The look is something she has only ever seen in her dreams of him before he dips his head and lets his lips glide gently over hers.

When he raises his head to look into her eyes again, Allura moves her fingers to touch her own lips…lips that still tingle from feeling his as she realizes that this is no dream. Keith whispers, "What do you want to say?"

Allura studies his eyes for several quiet moments, noting the look of hope and fear in them before she whispers, "I love you…"

A smile unlike any that she has ever seen before crosses Keith's face before he dips his head down to kiss her again. Allura lets out a gasp as he claims her lips and this time, Keith deepens the kiss. As his tongue gently teases her lips open, his hands slide down her back to hold her closer to him.

The contact with his broken ribs makes him gasp and he breaks the kiss. Horrified, Allura sits up, "Oh my God, I am so sorry!"

A half laugh, half groan escapes Keith as he lies back against his pillows again. His eyes find hers as he whispers, "It was worth it…"

A soft smile crosses her lips as she reaches down to him with her fingers to trace his lips again. Keith kisses her fingers before reaching up with his own hand to caress her cheek as he whispers, "I love you my Princess."

Allura turns her face to kiss the palm of his hand as he continues, "I have since the day I met you so long ago in the old castle."

A serene smile crosses Allura's face as she remembers that day. It was hard to see because the only light being thrown was from a few torches in the entryway. However, she had closely studied the five men standing near the staircase as they spoke to Coran and her eyes kept being drawn to the one who was their leader.

As she descended the stairs, she felt all of their eyes on her, but none so much as the man holding her now. Even then, his dark gaze had her blood humming through her veins and when she felt his lips on the back of her hand as he dedicated his life to protect her and Arus, it was all she could do not to shiver with joy at the flash of desire she felt.

She sighs as she thinks, '_Good thing the Arusian Council wasn't around then…we may have never gotten Voltron into the air.' _A sudden thought strikes her and Allura sits up suddenly, "NO…"

Keith pulls his hand away as he becomes concerned, "What Allura, what's wrong?"

Tears run out of her eyes again as she starts to curl into a ball next to Keith. Grimacing with the pain, he leans forward to grab her shoulders, "Allura, what?"

The princess sits up, still crying, and wraps her arms around him, "They won't let us be together…"

Confused, Keith asks, "Who? Why?"

Sniffling, Allura whispers against his neck, "Laws…they have laws…that forbid me from…marrying…" She struggles for a few moments before saying, "Non-royalty."

Letting out a sigh, Keith pulls away from her. Allura sits up and looks at him shocked and hurt, "What are you doing?"

Looking away, he speaks quietly, "We can't be together Allura…you just said they won't allow it."

Holding back a sob, she says, "So..."

Keith raises his pain-filled eyes to meet hers again, "Allura, I won't dishonor you that way…if I can't marry you then there is no point in tormenting ourselves with what can never be."

He watches her as resolve enters her eyes and she stubbornly lifts her chin, "Coward."

Shocked, anger courses through his veins as he growls at her, "What did you call me?"

Allura's chin trembles slightly as she utters, "Coward." Then, as she continues, her voice grows stronger, "You would rather give up than try finding a way to be with me. To me that makes you a coward." She pulls away from him to stand only to have her hand grabbed. She lets out a squeal as she is pulled back against Keith's chest.

She listens to him grunt in pain then feels his lips against hers again. This time he isn't gentle, this time Keith is ravaging her mouth, claiming it for his own. As his tongue strokes her mouth, Allura closes her eyes and wraps her arms around the commander to keep him close to her.


	2. Chapter 2

From here on my friends, the ratings go up and so does the sexual scenes. If you find them offensive, please stop reading. Thanks to those that reviewed, I enjoy hearing your thoughts.

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

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Chapter 2:

Six Months Later:

As the members of the Voltron Force leave their shuttles and start for their chutes back into castle control, Keith's voice stops Allura, "Princess, a word please."

Lance smiles reassuringly at her as she turns back toward the commander. Glancing at Keith's hard stare for a moment, Lance rolls his eyes then grabs his T-bar and heads back up to castle control.

Keith waits until both Hunk and Pidge disappear up their chutes before he steps toward Allura, "Princess, you were distracted while flying today."

Letting out a deep sigh as she closes the distance between them, Allura looks up into the dark eyes that are staring at her reproachfully, "I know Keith…I'm sorry."

Losing some of his irritation, he reaches out with his hand to caress her cheek, "You know better than that love…"

Smiling tentatively at him, Allura leans up on her toes to kiss him lightly on the lips before responding, "I kept remembering last night…and couldn't get my mind from reliving it and the feeling of you inside me."

Eyes darkening with desire, Keith leans down to kiss her lightly on the lips before moving his mouth along her neck.

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Lance steps out of his chute into castle control to find the castle advisor looking down on him from the dais while asking, "Where is Princess Allura and the commander?"

Shrugging, Lance takes a deep breath before answering, "Keith is giving her "the talk". She was messing up this morning during practice."

Coran nods at him then moves back to his seat at the controls.

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Allura lets out a whimper as Keith's lips tease the sensitive spot under her ear while his hands massage her buttocks, her fingers digging into his shoulders to keep her balance. Keith reluctantly releases her before stepping back, "We can't do this here…"

Smiling lightly at the disappointed look in his love's eyes, he reaches out to caress her cheek, "Coran will know something is up Allura if I go back up to control with a hard-on…"

Giggling, Allura smiles up into his eyes as he continues, "Yeah…easy for you to laugh at love…but kind of hard for me to hide in this uniform."

The princess' eyes travel along Keith's hard, tight body, admiring how the flight suit molds to him and outlines every muscle. Her eyes stop at his groin, '_Yup…every muscle.'_

Keith growls at her, "Stop that Allura…I'm serious!" as he fights to keep his body from responding to that sapphire gaze.

Looking back up into his face, she smiles then turns toward her chute, stopping just before it, "Same place, same time?"

Taking a deep breath, he nods to her and watches her face light up in a smile before she grabs her T-bar and disappears up the chute. Taking a moment to make sure his body has calmed down; Keith slowly walks to his T-bar and rises back into the control room.

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The commander enters castle control in time to watch Allura leave and turns around as Coran's voice echoes down at him, "Everything all right?"

Nodding, Keith waits until the dais has lowered and Coran is at his level before speaking, "Yes, we discussed what happened during practice, I'm sure Princess won't allow it to happen again."

Coran eyes him closely for a moment before asking, "What was bothering her?"

Making sure his face doesn't betray his anxiety, Keith responds, "Just some problems with the rebuilding of the local village…at least that is what she told me." Inside he is thinking, '_Shit…he can't suspect, can he?'_

Calculating eyes continue to study Keith for several moments before the older man turns back to the controls, "Very well Commander."

Being careful not to release the breath he was holding audibly, Keith turns around and walks out of the room.

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Sitting through breakfast, Keith keeps his eyes away from Allura and speaks only when spoken to as he feels Coran's eyes on him. When Lance leans over to ask him what is wrong, he manages a small smile before answering, "Nothing…just thinking about all the reports I have to get done this afternoon."

Lance rolls his eyes at him, "Is that all you can think of? Work? Jeez, Keith."

Letting out a deep sigh, Keith puts his fork down and rises from his seat, "Somebody has to…" He waves at the others, making sure to only glance at Allura like he does at the others before leaving the room.

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That afternoon, Keith lets out a deep sigh as he finishes the last report due to Admiral Graham and hits the send button on his data-pad when the door to his office opens and Allura walks in. Sitting back in his seat, Keith watches as she slowly saunters up to him, her hips shifting from side to side, drawing his eyes to them as she approaches him.

The soft sound of her voice washes over him as she greets him, "Hello handsome."

Smiling, Keith responds, "Hello beautiful." as she bends over his chair and kisses him lightly on the lips. Letting out a sigh, he pulls away from her, "Not here Allura."

Arching a brow at him, she asks, "Why?"

The commander stands up from his chair and moves away from her to create some space between them before responding, "I think Coran suspects something Allura and I wouldn't put it past him to surprise us in an attempt to catch us."

She opens her mouth to argue with him when the door to Keith's office suddenly opens and the castle advisor comes in, "Ahh…Commander, I was hoping you were in here." He pauses to nod at Allura, "Princess." Looking between them for a moment, Coran asks, "Did I interrupt something?"

Shaking her head, Allura responds before Keith can, "I was just apologizing once more for my poor performance this morning Coran." She turns back to the commander with a smile on her face, "Am I forgiven?"

Returning the smile, Keith answers, "Yes, just don't let it happen again."

Nodding at him in answer, Allura smiles at Coran then makes her way to the door and leaves the room. Keith turns to the older man and asks, "What did you need Coran?"

Coran smiles at him and launches into speech about the guard change and some security concerns he has about it. Keith appears to listen attentively as his mind races, '_I was right…he suspects something.'_

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Walking into dinner that night, Keith is filled with anxiety, none of which shows on his face as he meets the gazes of the others. '_Thank God for Academy training in the art of hiding information.'_ His eyes drift around the room and he takes in the fact that Coran is already sitting at the table and closely watching everyone in the room.

His eyes settle briefly on Allura but don't linger too long on her as he walks to his place at the table. Taking his normal seat between Lance and Pidge, Keith glances up to find the princess smiling at him. He briefly returns the smile and says, "Good evening Princess." then turns away from her.

Taking her cue from him, Allura diverts her attention away from him and turns instead to converse with Hunk.

As dinner finishes, Lance stands up and asks, "Movie anybody?"

Keith is the first to speak, "Sounds like a great idea to me."

Once again mimicking the commander, Allura stands up to add, "Only if it is one of the Earth films."

The lieutenant nods, "Yes, received a new set of movies today in fact."

Standing up, Coran declines, "Sorry, the Earth films are not my cup of tea. I will say goodnight." The group watches him leave then they exit the dining room and walk together to the rec room.

As Lance gets the movie ready, Keith sits down beside Allura as they wait for the movie to begin. Lance sits down, flips off the lights and they all settle in to watch the movie. In the near darkness, Allura reaches for Keith's hand and takes it within hers.

Keith lets out a quiet sigh and squeezes her hand for a moment before pulling his hand away from her. Allura lets out her own sigh as he withdraws his hand from hers while wondering, '_What is going on? He doesn't usually pull away from me.'_

As the movie goes on, Allura glances around to find the other three asleep. She turns her face to Keith and points at them, but he shakes his head. Feeling frustrated, the princess crosses her arms and turns to look at the other three only to find Lance sitting up in his seat and glancing at her before turning his gaze back to the movie. Shaking her head slightly, Allura wonders, '_How did Keith know that Lance was still awake? I could have sworn he was asleep.'_

Keeping an eye on Lance as the movie continues, Keith sighs, '_Come on Lance…fall asleep…you are so close to it.'_ Keeping his face turned toward the TV, the commander glances out of the corner of his eye as his friend's head bobs again before his chin slips to his chest.

He waits a few more minutes to make sure Lance is out before turning his attention to Allura. Her own head is bobbing in an attempt to stay awake and Keith smiles before reaching out to touch her chin. She quickly opens her eyes and turns to him as he presses a finger to her lips to keep her quiet. Taking a risk and praying the others stay asleep, Keith pulls her against his chest and lightly kisses her lips before moving his mouth to her ear to whisper, "It isn't a good idea to meet tonight Allura…Coran suspects something."

She wraps her arms around his waist and shoves her nose into his neck before whispering back, "But I need you…"

Holding her tight to him, Keith keeps an eye on the other three before responding, "I think Coran is having you followed. He came to my office way too fast this afternoon after you showed up. He had to know you would be there."

Letting out a quiet whimpering sound, Allura digs her fingers into his waist as her mouth attaches to his neck, kissing him there.

Keith manages to withhold a groan as his body begins to respond as it always does to any stimulation from the princess. Turning his head, he presses a kiss to her forehead before grabbing her arms and pushing Allura away from him while whispering, "Not here, not now…"

Throwing caution to the winds, Allura launches herself at him and encircles her arms around his neck again before kissing him passionately. Keith returns the kiss as his arms wrap back around her. A soft snorting noise alerts him to the fact that the others will soon awaken and he moves his mouth to her ear once more to whisper, "Ok, I'll disable the security cameras in that sector at 2300. Try to reach our room. Stop by the balcony first to make sure you aren't being followed. Wait to come to the room until you know for sure that you are alone."

Allura lets out a throaty, "Yes…" before Keith pushes her away from him and they both turn back to the movie just as Lance opens his eyes and sits up once more. He turns his face to the other two, "Man, I don't know why I'm so tired…" Yawning loudly enough that he wakes up Pidge and Hunk, Lance rises, "I'm going to bed."

Hunk and Pidge yawn and stretch before they rise as well. Keith stands up and turns off the movie as they also state they are heading for bed. He gestures to Allura to follow them and they all walk down the hallway together. As they pass the area where the force sleeps, Hunk and Pidge say good night and turn into their rooms while Keith finishes walking Allura to her room. Stopping near the door, he smiles at her, "Good night Princess."

Allura smiles but before she can reach out a hand to touch him, Keith looks away to say, "Hello Reginald, stuck on guard duty tonight?"

Turning, she finds Reginald, one of the castle guards, walking closer to them, "Yes sir, it is my turn."

Frustrated by the fact that she won't be able to say anything more to Keith, she bids both men good night and walks into her room. Keith stays where he is as he engages Reginald in conversation for a few minutes before bidding the man good night and turning to walk back to his room.

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Reginald watches the commander walk away and lets out a sigh before reaching for his comm. unit, "Coran, you asked me to report in."

The advisor's voice fills the air, "Yes Reginald?"

Pausing to collect his thoughts Reginald reports, "The commander walked the princess back to her room, but nothing untoward occurred."

He listens to Coran let out a deep breath before he responds, "That's good Reginald. However, I would like you to patrol the corridor near Princess' room for the rest of the night. We've had too many problems with the security system in that area lately. Report back to me if she does leave her room."

Reginald acknowledges the command and signs off. He resumes his patrol thinking, '_I hope Coran is wrong…I respect the commander.'_

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Allura waits two hours before rising and putting on her bathrobe. Walking out of her room, she slowly walks down the hallway, listening for the sound of footsteps behind her. Pausing for a moment, she turns back to study the hallway behind her for a moment before moving ahead once more.

At the hallway that turns toward the room she normally meets Keith in, Allura instead goes the other way and walks out onto the balcony then leans against the railing, admiring the night sky.

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The guard stands for several minutes watching the princess before he begins to feel ashamed, '_Coran must be wrong. All she is doing is getting some night air.'_ Deciding not to invade her privacy any longer, Reginald turns around and walks away.

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Standing in the shadows watching the guard as he observes the princess, Keith sighs, '_Damn…I hate it when I'm right sometimes.'_

Staying still as he hides in the shadows, Keith waits until Reginald turns around and leaves. Waiting several more minutes, he finally decides the guard isn't coming back and lets out a deep breath of relief before joining Allura out on the balcony.

She turns when he opens the door and smiles at him. Keith gestures for her to follow him and leads the way to their room.

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Pausing to let Allura pass him, Keith follows her into the room they have been meeting in for the past six months and locks the door behind them. Turning around, he is knocked against the door as she throws herself at him while kissing his lips. Keith engages in the kiss, his tongue sweeping into her mouth as his hands find the knot to untie her robe, opening it. Pushing the material off her shoulders, he groans against her mouth as her hands find the button to his pants and unzips them. As her fingers slide into the material to stroke his throbbing manhood, Keith pulls her nightgown up around her waist and lifts her up.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, Allura lets out a satisfied sigh as he pushes into her wet warmth. She can feel Keith moving inside her as he takes them over to the bed, bending over so she feels the softness of the mattress underneath her. Letting his weight fall onto the princess briefly, Keith continues to kiss her…groaning deeply into her mouth at the rising pleasure. Releasing her lips to push himself up on his arms, he begins thrusting into her, harder and faster…urging her continued moans. Feeling himself nearing the edge of completion, he gets up on his knees and grabs Allura's hips, grinding himself deeper into her as she cries out her orgasm. With one last thrust, Keith finishes them off by pushing into her as deep as he can; listening to her cry out again before he comes with a groan.

A few moments later, Keith pulls himself out of the princess and lies beside her as she curls into his side. Wrapping his arm around her, he turns to kiss the top of her head before saying, "We can't stay long Allura. You were being followed. If you don't return to your room soon, Reginald will come back to look for you again. Not to mention, the cameras will turn back on again soon."

Letting out a whimpering sound as her hand tightens around his waist, Allura whispers, "Need you…"

Keith pulls her body up higher on his and kisses her lips, "You have me love…just not as long as you want." He pulls them up into a sitting position, "Come on sweetheart, we need to get you back to your room."

Reluctantly, Allura pulls her nightgown down and rises from the bed to retrieve her bathrobe as Keith tucks everything back into place before zipping his pants back up. Waiting by the door for him, Allura watches him runs a hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it as he walks to her.

Smiling down at his love, Keith leans over to kiss her lightly on the lips again before he presses the button to release the lock and opens the door. He steps into the hallway first and listens for any noise before motioning Allura out.

As she steps by him, Keith pulls her back against his chest to whisper in her ear, "Go first…I'll walk behind you to see if you are followed." After placing a kiss by her ear, he releases her to let her step forward.

He waits until Allura gets several feet in front of him then follows her, staying far enough behind not to be noticed. In the hallway before Allura's bedroom door, he hears her voice, which freezes him to his spot, "Hello Reginald, still on patrol I see."

Knowing Allura would have no problem getting back to her room, Keith turns around and walks back to his bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the slowness in posting…holiday weekend, headaches and other things cropped up. Many happy birthday wishes to my friend Charigul. Enjoy.

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 3:

Walking into the control room early the next morning, Keith finds Coran studying something on the monitor. As he nears the monitor, he notices Coran is watching Allura as she sits before her dressing table and he swears under his breath. Hearing the noise, Coran quickly turns his head, spotting him before flipping the monitor off.

As he turns in his chair, Keith angrily approaches him, "Since when do we have a camera in Princess' bedroom Coran?"

Reddening a little, the older man replies, "It is for her security…"

Keith cuts him off, "_Her _security? Does she even know it is there Coran?"

As the advisor flushes even more, Keith crosses his arms in front of his chest, "I didn't think so. You know what will happen if she finds out about it…Princess values her privacy and won't look too kindly on being spied on." He uncrosses his arms and steps closer to Coran, "And you know that is how she will view it."

Coran clears his throat then says, "I ask you not to tell her Commander." At the mutinous look on the younger man's face, Coran continues, "I had it installed after Lotor tried to kidnap her out of her room by breaking in through the windows. In the event of another such attack, we need be prepared for what may happen."

The commander turns red with his anger and fails to hear the sound of someone entering the room as he states, "We need to know she is safe, yet respect her privacy Coran. I can't see how possibly turning on a camera when she changes clothes in her room will make Allura feel safe."

Before Coran can respond, they hear a female voice behind them, "What camera?"

Closing his eyes, dreading the fight to come, Keith turns around to face a furious Princess Allura. She quickly closes the distance between them and glares at the two men before her, "I asked what camera?"

Coran begins to sputter, "Princess Allura…you must understand…"

Her voice echoes through castle control as she begins yelling, "YOU HAVE A CAMERA IN MY BEDROOM CORAN?" Her furious gaze moves from Coran to Keith as she continues to yell, "DID YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?"

Raising his hands as if to fend her off, the commander shakes his head as Coran continues to sputter while trying to find a logical reason that wouldn't have her completely lose her temper. Allura turns around and runs out of the room without waiting for him to finish. Keith looks back at the advisor to glare at him before both men follow her out of the control room. Running quickly down the halls, Keith follows her as she enters her room with Coran slowly coming up behind him.

Stepping into it, Keith watches as Allura spins around in the center of her room looking around before turning back to glare at him, "Where is it?"

Keith shakes his head and turns to look around the room himself. Spotting an air vent, Keith sees the lights shining off the camera lens and points to it. Allura grabs a chair and quickly stands on it to view inside the vent as Coran enters the room.

She notes the unit pointing into the center of her room and slowly steps down off the chair. In a voice that neither Coran nor Keith had ever heard before, she furiously states, "That camera will be taken out of my room before I return and I had better not ever find one in here again!"

Pushing past a still stuttering Coran, Keith watches Allura go before glaring at the advisor again and following her. He starts to say her name then stops as she quickly walks down the hallway, '_Better to let her cool off…I don't need her killing me for something I had no part in.'_

Turning around, Keith heads toward the bedrooms of the other Force members while thinking, '_Better warn the others…I have a feeling Allura is going to be a bear to deal with all day today.'_

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After finishing relaying the events of the morning so far to the others, Keith sits back as he listens to Lance blow up, "I can't fucking believe Coran had the balls to put a camera in Princess' bedroom!"

Hunk sits shaking his head, "That doesn't sound like something Coran would normally do…"

Shrugging, Pidge responds, "I'm sure he had good intentions guys…you know how he and Nanny get when it comes to protecting Princess. They just got a little overzealous."

Sitting with his arms crossed while the others continue talking about the camera, Keith thinks, '_I wonder if that camera is a new event…this isn't something Coran would normally do without talking to me about it first.'_ He feels his chest tightening in anger and a slight bit of fear as his mind continues to race, '_I bet he was hoping to catch Allura and I doing something…'_

He is pulled out of his thoughts as his comm. unit beeps. Pulling it off his belt, Keith answers, "Kogane."

Coran's voice fills the room as he speaks, "Commander, Princess Allura took off in Blue lion and has been gone since the…uhh…events…of this morning." Lance starts to sputter, "Events…" Keith glares at him to be quiet as Coran continues, "I would appreciate it if you and the others would go out to ensure her safety."

Keith takes a deep breath and looks around at the others' angry looks before answering, "We are on our way." He signs off and puts the unit back on his belt as Lance stands up, "Man…he has got balls. He pisses her off and then we are supposed to go calm her down."

Standing up, Keith lets out a deep sigh, "Come on guys…let's go find her."

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The Green lion pilot radios into Keith, "Cap, I've tried raising Princess on the comm. several times, she isn't answering and I can't trace it. I'm guessing she turned it off."

Keith grits his teeth while asking, "What about the tracking signal on the lion?"

There is silence for a moment before Pidge speaks again, "She must have turned that off as well. I am getting no trace of Blue lion."

Lance speaks out next "Man…she must be really pissed."

Swearing under his breath, the commander orders, "All right, spread out everyone, Hunk, you take East, Pidge, West, Lance, head North and I'll go South, radio in if you find her."

After receiving confirmations from the other three, Keith turns Black south as his mind races to their conversations that they've had the last few months. He remembers her favorite spot to go when she feels troubled and turns Black in that direction.

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Sitting with her knees to her chest on top of Blue lion's nose, Allura watches the ocean water in front of her while tears run down her cheeks. Still trying to get over her anger, she thinks, '_I can't believe he did that…a camera in my room and all those times I changed clothes out in the open…'_

Shuddering slightly at the thought, another one hits her, _'Did Coran think he would catch me with Keith?'_ Her thoughts are interrupted and she looks up when she hears the roar of a lion, spotting Black lion heading toward her. Looking back at the water, she wipes the tears off her face as she thinks, '_Figures he would be able to find me…even when I don't want him to.'_

She glances over as Black lion lands beside her and Keith soon appears on top of Black's nose. He is silent for a moment as he watches her from the short distance between them before he jumps over to Blue lion and lands beside her, whispering her name, "Allura…"

Not answering him, the princess continues to look at the water as he speaks again, "You have everyone worried Allura…you even turned off the tracing beacon to Blue."

Allura glares up at him for the bit of censure in his voice. As she stands, she yells at him, "Because I didn't want to be found, so take the hint and leave me alone!"

As she turns to leave, Keith grabs her and pulls her into his arms. Allura throws up her arms against his chest trying to push him away but stops when his lips descend to hers and he passionately kisses her. Once she has stopped fighting him, Keith pulls his head back to stare into her eyes, "I love you Allura…I need to be able to find you at any time, because if anything ever happened to you...I don't know if I could survive it."

Tears run down her cheeks as Keith pulls her tightly against him and continues to whisper into her ear, "That is how much I love you."

Sobbing against him, Allura goes limp in his arms. Keith picks up her and holds her close to him before he hears the roar of lions overhead. Lifting his head, he spots the other three lions on the horizon and quickly whispers, "I know Coran is going to be watching from the monitors…I have to put you back down love."

He feels her nod her head against him and lowers her legs back to the top of the lion and steps back from her as the lions approach. Allura looks up into his eyes and solemnly asks, "Did you know about the camera?"

Keith shakes his head, "No, you know I would never have agreed to it Allura." He looks up a moment to find the lions getting closer then looks back at her, "I think he must have just put it in and you know why."

She nods her head and he continues, "I think we need to back off for a little while Allura…" At the hurt look on her face, the commander quickly continues, "I said back off, not stop. Just until Coran calms down and doesn't continue to suspect us."

Wiping at the tears still running down her cheeks, Allura looks over as Red lion lands followed by Green and Yellow. She turns back to Keith and looks up into his dark eyes while whispering, "I love you…"

Smiling at her, Keith quickly turns his expression neutral as Lance, Hunk and Pidge appear on top of their lions. Lance watches them closely for a moment before calling out, "Everything all right?"

Nodding at him, Allura steps away from Keith to reply, "Sorry I worried you guys…"

Lance smiles at her, "We are just glad to find that you are all right."

A sigh escapes Allura as she nods, "I was just so angry…"

As Hunk and Pidge nod sympathetically from their lions, a snort escapes Lance, "Can't say I blame you there…I'll be looking in my own vent when we get back to the castle."

Keith shakes his head, but thinks, '_He isn't the only one that will be looking…God help Coran if I find a camera in my room.'_ Clearing his throat, he gestures to the others, "Well, let's head back to the castle and get some lunch."

As the other return to their lions, Keith stops Allura by touching her arm, "Remember…"

Nodding at him, Allura smiles softly and then turns to step into Blue lion's hatch. Keith waits until she is in her lion before jumping back for Black.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, so this chapter isn't as long as I thought it was Reader Junkie…but I will make it up on the next one. The tension has to get built up a bit more first. Many thanks for the reviews.

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

* * *

Chapter 4:

Three tension filled days later, Keith sighs as he continues the team meeting. Feeling Coran's eyes on the back of his head, he sits at the terminal and punches up another screen for the main monitor. As the video of the morning's training appears, Keith points to a specific spot with a laser, "Princess, this is the pattern you seem to always miss."

Allura lets out a sigh, "Sorry Keith…"

Lance groans, "Come on Keith, if you are going to ride her about it, at least let the rest of us go…we've been at this an hour already."

Gritting his teeth, the commander growls, "If you think it isn't important to be ready when Lotor attacks next…"

Holding up his hands, Lance quickly replies, "I'm not saying that, but if Princess needs to be walked through that pattern, we don't all need to be here for it."

Rubbing his face tiredly, Keith finally waves them off, "Fine, go. Princess hang around, we will go through the pattern together."

Keith moves to sit at the conference table beside Allura as Hunk, Pidge and Lance quickly leave. Glancing up, the commander notices Coran still sitting there and says, "You don't need to stay if you don't want to."

The advisor sighs as he looks over the pages in front of him, "It's fine Commander…I'm just going to finish going through these reports you gave me while I'm sitting here."

Nodding, Keith turns back to Allura as he picks up the data-pad in front of him. Sliding closer to her, he inhales her sweet scent as he sets the pad between them and draws on it, "See Princess, the lion needs to start here…and move this way."

Taking the pad from him, Allura takes a few minutes to writes before handing it back to ask, "Like this?"

Keith glances at it, but instead of a drawing, Allura had written, _We need to find a way to spend some time together. Suggest a team outing…anything…to get us out of the castle and away from Coran._

Sighing deeply, he writes on the data-pad as he speaks quietly, "Not quite Princess, you need to adjust the thrusters…doing so will cause the lion to turn in the direction you want." He places the pad on the table and turns it slightly so Allura can read, _I can't suggest it…Coran would know._

She quickly writes, _Then how?_ and pushes it back while stating, "Yes, I see that, but in Blue when I do that I get the opposite effect."

Coran looks up at them for a moment as Keith looks thoughtful then writes on the data-pad again. Glancing back down at the papers, he thinks; '_Maybe I was wrong…'_

Finishing writing his note, Keith hands it back, "I'll have Hunk and Pidge check it out, but I believe if you alter the navigation to this angle…" he points at the data-pad and Allura reads, _Complain to Lance…get him to suggest something in front of Coran._ as Keith finishes saying, "then fire the thrusters, it should do the trick."

Nodding, Allura releases a sigh as she says, "I'll give it a try."

Smiling at her, Keith erases the data-pad then responds, "Well, that's it for today then."

The princess rises, "Thanks Keith." then slowly walks out of the room.

Leaving his chair, Coran walks over to the commander, "Think she will get it?"

Nodding, Keith lets out a deep breath, "She always does…once she learns it, she will be fine."

Coran nods then turns around and leaves the room. Keith watches him go and lets out a deep breath while thinking, '_I hope Allura can get Lance to suggest something…I miss her.'_

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Walking down to the rec room, Allura enters the room quite happy to find Lance relaxing on the couch. He smiles at her as she walks across the room and sits down beside him as he asks, "So did our fearless leader torture you?"

Shaking her head, Allura then tips it to rest it on his shoulder, "No, you know he never tortures me Lance. Keith just gets very frustrated when I mess up."

Letting out a sigh, Lance responds, "Yeah I know Princess…and he is harder on you than the rest of us."

Allura lifts her head to look into his face, "I know…he worries about keeping me safe."

Smiling at her, he touches her cheek, "We all do Princess…you didn't get the training we had at the Academy, so Keith just wants to make sure nothing happens to you."

Nodding, Allura puts her head back on the back of the sofa. Noticing her quietness, Lance touches her arm, "Everything all right Princess?"

Turning her head back to him, she sighs out, "I just wish we could go out and have some fun for once…it's been nothing but training and drills for the last couple of months."

Lance smiles at her, "So why don't you declare a holiday and get us out of here."

Snorting, Allura shakes her head, "Between Keith and Coran? I would get shot down in a heartbeat." Turning her gaze back to him, she arches an eyebrow, "Why don't you suggest it to Keith? For some reason he listens when you complain."

Laughing, Lance utters, "Only to shut me up…"

A frustrated look crosses Allura's face as she puts her head back on the couch again, closing her eyes. Lance watches her for several moments before letting out a sigh, "I'll see what I can do at dinner tonight. With Hunk and Pidge there to second the suggestion, maybe Keith won't shoot it down so quickly."

Allura smiles at him as he rises from the couch stating, "I better get my reports done and on Keith's desk on time today. Maybe that will put him in a good enough mood."

As she watches the lieutenant leave the room, hope fills Allura, '_Please let this work…'_

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Keith sits through dinner that night, his eyes occasionally resting on Allura, to find her picking at her food before looking over at the others. Glancing up the table, he notes that Coran seems to be in good spirits before he shifts his gaze to Lance.

Having been studying his friend through most of the meal, trying to discern his mood, Lance smiles at him as he says, "Hey Keith…been a while since we've had a team outing. How about a picnic tomorrow afternoon?"

Sitting back in his chair, Keith doesn't saying anything initially as both Hunk and Pidge look up from their meals to second the idea. He moves his gaze from them to Allura and asks, "Princess?"

She smiles at him, "I think it is a wonderful idea. It has been a long time since we went out as a group."

Coran speaks up before Keith has a chance to say anything, "I don't think you should. Lotor is long overdue to attack. He would love to hit at a time when our guard is down."

The commander lets out a sigh and looks down at his plate as if in contemplation as Lance snorts, "Coran, Lotor is always waiting to hit us when our guard is down…but what's the point in protecting this place if we never enjoy it?"

Looking back up, Keith hears Hunk speak up next, "Yeah, all work and no play makes for a grumpy Voltron Force." Then Pidge adds, "Besides, we've been doing nothing but training drills…I think we deserve to take an afternoon off."

Coran opens his mouth to argue again, but stops as Keith raises his hand to end the arguments. His eyes go around the table for a moment before he looks over at the advisor and quietly states, "They are right Coran. I've been pushing them hard for the last couple of months." Turning his gaze back to Lance he continues, "I'll agree to it as long as we go out in the lions and have our full gear with us in case of an attack."

Listening to the whoops of joy around the table for a moment, the men stop as Coran speaks up, "Then I think Nanny and I should join you."

Lance is the first to say, "What for?"

Arching a brow at him, Coran states, "It isn't appropriate for the princess to be out with…" Interrupting him, Lance states, "There are four of us going Coran…it isn't like anything is going to happen to Princess or her reputation."

Keith sits forward in his chair, "Coran, you know it isn't a good idea to leave control completely unmanned…"

Allura stands up, her cheeks red with rage, "Enough!" She turns to the old advisor, "You trust these men with my life Coran, but you won't trust them with my reputation?" As he starts to sputter, the princess continues, "It is insulting Coran, both to me and these men…you and Nanny are staying here!"

Throwing down her napkin, Allura turns around and leaves the room. Keith looks over at the older man, who lets out a sigh while wiping his mustache with his hand. Letting out his own sigh, the commander inquires, "Coran?"

Looking up, the advisor waves a hand at them, "Go tomorrow and make sure she enjoys herself." He pauses a moment before muttering, "Maybe it will put her in a better mood than she has been in lately."

Keith looks over at Lance, who is grinning madly at him, and shakes his head before turning back to his own plate to finish his meal.

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The group walks down the hall to the rec room after dinner to find Allura in it already and Keith raises his eyebrows at her upon entering the room. She is sitting in front of the video screen playing one of Pidge's video games that involves fighting your way through several levels to become, "Best of the Best".

He sighs as he looks at the screen while she kicks the ass of her video game opponent, '_Not her usual choice of games…Coran is right, she must be in a foul mood.'_

The lieutenant laughs as she completes the round, "So Allura…whose face did you put on the person you just kicked the shit out of?"

Keith shoots him a warning look as he growls out, "Lance…"

Finally looking away from the game, Allura throws the controller to Pidge, who had just sat down next to her, before she answers sarcastically, "Take three guesses, the first two don't count."

Lance continues to laugh as Allura moves to the couch. She turns her irritated eyes to Keith, "So are we going on our outing tomorrow or did you and Coran deem it too dangerous?"

Hiding his wince at her tone of voice, Keith responds, "We are going, practice will be delayed until 10:00 tomorrow morning and we will go to the falls to have a picnic there."

He releases the breath he had been holding as she visibly relaxes and a smile finally crosses her face, "Good, swimming as well?" she asks.

Keith nods to her as she turns her gaze back to Lance, "Would you put in a movie? A comedy would be perfect. I could use a laugh…"

Moving across the room, Keith sits down beside the princess and waits for Lance to turn off the lights as the movie starts. Once the room is dark, he moves his hand over to lightly touch her fingers. Without looking at him, Allura intertwines their fingers and lets out a quiet sigh as they watch the movie.


	5. Chapter 5

Life is a merry-go-round going way too fast and I want to get off for a while… :p Sorry for the long delay.

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 5:

Practice is proving to be worthless the next day…no one has his or her mind on what needs to be done. Keith lets out a sigh as he thinks, '_The mood is too light…'_ With his irritation getting the better of him, Keith finally yells, "Lance! Get it together damn it."

Lance finishes his loops before getting back into formation. He smiles at Keith unabashedly across the video screen, "Sorry Keith…just in too good of a mood I guess."

Struggling to keep everyone's mind on practice for the next hour, Keith finally gives up after Pidge makes his third mistake that morning, "All right…I give up. Since no one can keep their mind on practice let's just get to the waterfalls."

He fights to keep the smile off his face at the sounds of joy going across the comm. as the team heads toward the tranquil waterfalls of Alissera and the pool of water surrounding them.

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Smiling as she jumps out of Blue lion, Allura lands on the ground and joins the boys. Looking at them for a moment, she watches as Lance takes the picnic basket and blanket away from Keith to get it placed on the ground.

Moving her gaze, Allura looks around the picnic spot. Alissera Falls is known for its tranquil beauty. Several small springs run off the upper cliff, hitting rugged rocks covered with emerald green moss on the way down to fall into the warm pool below and out to a quiet stream. Mists of water rise at the bottom as the water spills into it, creating a colorful rainbow as the sun strikes it. The water of the pool is sapphire in color with a sandy bottom, perfect for swimming. All around the banks of the pool are flowers of every type imaginable and tall green grass. A forest that eventually leads back to the castle surrounds the meadow.

Taking a deep breath, Allura joins the boys by the blanket and sits down to enjoy the wonderful food Nanny had given them. Her eyes travel over the items as Lance keeps taking things out of the basket. Sandwiches, fruit and nuts are the main course. For dessert, Nanny had included several pastries as well as Hunk's favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Turning to the voice on her right side, Allura looks into Keith's eyes as he hands her a sandwich and a cup of the juice. For the first time in three days, she lets down her guard and smiles warmly at him.

Keith's eyes light up as he watches the smile form on her face. Relaxing and letting out a deep sigh he thinks, '_That's my girl…at last.'_

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After lunch, Allura pulls her boots off her feet and stands up. As she pulls the zipper down on her flight suit, she looks into Keith's face to see his eyebrows going up. Laughing, she pulls the flight suit off to show off her pink bikini.

She shifts her gaze from Keith to Lance when he wolf whistles then asks, "I thought Nanny burned that suit Princess?"

Another laugh escapes her as she exclaims, "I hid it from her before she could." Turning away from the guys, she states, "Last one in is a rotten egg!" and dives into the pool of water.

Lance groans and lies back on the blanket, "I'm too tired to swim right now…that food was just too good." Hunk and Pidge both yawn as well and lie back as Keith pulls his boots off then stands to remove his flight suit, "Guess I'll join her then."

Nodding his head, Lance exclaims, "Good, you can play swimming buddy while we get to take a nap."

Smiling, Keith dives into the pool as he thinks, '_This couldn't be more perfect…'_ Surfacing, he looks around the pool before calling out, "Princess!"

He feels her hands on him before she surfaces behind him as her hands move up his legs, his buttocks and back, caressing him the whole way. Keeping his groan from being audible, Keith turns around in the water to find Allura smiling at him as she asks, "Where are the others?"

Returning the smile, he quietly answers, "Napping…"

Keith feels his body respond, the brightness of her smile could have competed with the sun as she gestures him to follow her. As she swims away, he follows, keeping alongside her until she approaches the falls.

Look at the falls in front of him, he watches as Allura takes a deep breath and then dives underneath the water. Moments later, he calls out her name again as he looks around trying to find her. Finally, he hears her voice, "Under the falls…"

Taking his own deep breath, Keith dives under the water and swims under the falls to find Allura standing in a small pool inside a cavern, hidden by the falls. Rising to stand in the waist deep water, he approaches her slowly as she reaches behind her to undo the strap to her bikini top. She moves and throws it on top of a nearby boulder. Turning back to Keith to let him see her nakedness, Allura reaches down in the water to remove her bikini bottoms.

Keith's mouth goes dry as he watches her throw the bottoms beside her top, then she slowly moves toward him. Standing in front of him, Allura reaches out to run her hand down along his chest as she whispers, "Make love to me Keith…"

Stifling his groan, he pulls her against him and begins kissing her as his hands move down her back to cup her buttocks. Keith's tongue strokes her mouth as he pulls her tightly against his hardened manhood. Her hands move along his well-muscled back and dip into his swim trunks to caress his firm buttocks.

Groaning, Keith pulls away from her to reach down to his swim trunks, quickly removing them. He throws them on top of her discarded suit then grabs Allura to pull her tight against him again. She jumps up on him and wraps her legs around his waist.

He pulls an engorged nipple into his mouth and sucks on it while listening to her whimpered response as her fingers grip onto his hair, holding him to her. Lifting her up slightly, Keith pushes into her warmth, letting out a groan against her breast as he slides farther in.

Feeling the tugging on his hair, Keith releases her breast to have Allura capture his lips in a heated kiss, her tongue entering his mouth and stroking him as he moves deep inside of her. Walking forward as he continues to kiss Allura desperately, Keith stops when his hands encounter a smooth stone wall. He pushes her back against it, using it as leverage to thrust harder and faster into her body.

Allura breaks the kiss as she tilts her head back to let out a gasp as his continued stroking sends her to the heavens. She feels Keith's lips move to her throat as he continues to thrust inside her. She feels her body begin to shudder with pleasure as he squeezes her buttocks then move his lips from her throat back to her breast again.

Sucking hard on the nipple in his mouth, Keith feels himself nearing completion. Forcing himself to wait for Allura, he shifts his hips as he grinds back into her and is awarded with her cry of pleasure. He feels her body tighten around him in climax and lets himself go, burying his face within her chest.

She lets out a sigh as she finally rejoins reality. Still holding Keith's head tight to her chest, she moves her fingers through his hair again, getting him to look up at her. Smiling down into his face, Allura lowers her head to his and lightly kisses him whispering gently against his lips, "I love you…"

He smiles warmly at her as he lifts them away from the wall, turning them around to lower her back into the water. Keith lets out his own sigh as he keeps his arms wrapped around the princess, holding her tightly against his body as he whispers back, "I love you too…"

Kissing her neck, Keith reluctantly pulls away from Allura as he says, "We are going to have to get back out into the open soon before the guys notice we are gone."

Smiling at the disappointed look on her face, he watches as she turns away from him to retrieve her bathing suit. Allura turns back toward him and throws his trunks at him, which he catches with a smile and proceeds to pull back on.

Once Allura has her suit back on, he follows her out of the cavern and they swim back toward the bank where the others are otherwise occupied. Keith pulls himself up out of the water and holds a hand out to Allura. She smiles up at him and takes it, then uses her feet as leverage to pull him back into the water.

Lance rises from his nap as he listens to Keith's yell and laughs at the disgruntled look on his face as he rises from the water and the expression of joy on Allura's as she laughs at him. Quickly removing his flight suit, Lance jumps in the water beside them and joins in a splashing match. The sound of laughter and splashing soon wakes Hunk and Pidge and they quickly join in the fun in the water.

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A short time later, Keith pulls himself up out of the water once more and turns to find Allura holding her hand out to him again. Arching an eyebrow at her, he slowly extends out his hand then pulls her up out of the water quickly.

Laughing, Allura puts her feet down on the soft grass by the shore and waves at the other men as they continue to swim. Keith watches her as she lies down on the picnic blanket and holds her hand out to him again.

Sighing deeply, Keith lies down beside her and enjoys the warmth of the sun on his skin until he feels something wet on his stomach. Lifting his head, he finds Allura turned crossways on the blanket and using him for her pillow.

Reaching down, he caresses her cheek with his thumb before speaking quietly, "You shouldn't do that Allura…Lance and the others won't stay in the water forever."

She sighs and turns her face toward him, "I'm tired of being careful…for one afternoon I want to be able to touch you as much as I want."

Releasing a sigh of his own, Keith nods in response and caresses her cheek once more before putting his hands behind his head then closing his eyes. Allura studies his profile for several moments before turning her head to a more comfortable position, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Half an hour later, Lance pulls himself tiredly up out of the water and pauses at the sight in front of him. He motions Hunk and Pidge to be quiet as they rise from the water and all three smile at the sight of Allura, Princess of Arus, resting her head on the Voltron Force Commander's stomach while sleeping.

Hunk leans over to whisper to Lance, "Should we wake them?"

Smiling at his two best friends napping together, Lance turns back to Hunk, "No, let's let them sleep. Come on, let's go investigate the area behind the falls, sometimes there are hidden caves behind them."

The three of them slide quietly back into the water and swim away. Keith opens his eyes when he no longer hears any voices and looks down at the woman he loves sleeping on him. Smiling, he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 6:

Another week goes by slowly for Allura. She walks down the hallway toward Coran's office, her mind a mess of thoughts as she wonders, '_How much longer am I going to have to stay away from Keith? I haven't been with him since our picnic and I miss him terribly.'_

She lets out a deep sigh as she approaches Coran's office door and knocks, '_I know I get to see him and talk to him every day…but it isn't the same as being in his arms and feeling his lips on mine as he tells me he loves me.'_

Upon hearing Coran's voice saying, "Enter.", Allura opens the door and walks into his office. She moves to the desk and sits down in the chair in front as she asks, "You wanted to see me?"

Coran smiles at her as he holds out a sheet of paper to her, "Yes, Prince Thomas of Planet Oron wishes to visit and receive permission to court you."

Allura takes the sheet of paper from Coran and glances down at it as he continues, "I've looked into the situation and it would be a good match for Arus, Princess. They have a military defense that could help protect the planet, but even more important they have the financial stability we need to help us rebuild."

Finishing reading through the paper, Allura hands it back to him, "I'm not interested Coran. Please tell Prince Thomas thank you for his interest, but no thanks."

She rises from her chair but doesn't leave the room as Coran's angry voice booms at her, "What do you mean not interested?" He stands up, glaring at her, "You are the Princess of Arus and the sole remaining royalty! It is your duty to not only protect this planet but to ensure its future by marrying well and producing an heir!"

Allura glares back at Coran, "I will marry for love or not at all…"

Coran barely lets her finish as he comes around the desk to roar, "You are a Princess…you don't have the luxury of waiting for love! You need to do what is best for your people…"

Slamming her hand down on his desk Allura yells, "ENOUGH!" After Coran quiets down Allura speaks lividly, "I am not a child that needs to be lead about by the nose Coran. I know what is expected of me, but my parents were in love and I don't see why I can't have that too instead of a cold arranged marriage!"

Coran's head drops for a moment before he looks back up at her, "They weren't at first Princess."

At the shocked look on her face, he continues, "It was an arranged marriage your grandfather set up between your mother and father. At first they couldn't stand each other, but soon they learned to respect each other and out of that respect love grew."

A sudden thought comes to him, "You said for love or not at all, but you aren't even willing to consider Prince Thomas…why?" As Allura looks away, Coran becomes furious all over again, "You are already in love…aren't you?"

He grabs her shoulders as he demands, "WHO ALLURA?"

As she pulls away from him, Coran continues, "It is someone inappropriate isn't it?" He grabs her arm again, "Someone you know you can't marry! Allura, you know there are laws against this!"

To keep from giving away anything more, she pulls away from Coran and runs for the door.

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Running out of Coran's office, all of Allura's frustration and anger are screaming to get out of her. Throwing caution to the wind, she continues down the hallway to Keith's office and not bothering to knock as she runs into the room.

He looks up at her and begins to smile until he sees her face. Rising quickly he asks, "What's wrong?"

Closing the distance between them, Allura throws her arms around him, kissing him desperately. Keith returns the kiss for a moment before grabbing her arms to pull her away from him and repeats, "What's wrong?"

Tears run down her cheeks as she pulls away from his arms to grab him again saying, "Make love to me Keith." She pulls his head down to kiss her again then moves her hands to his pants and starts unbuttoning them.

Keith grabs her hands and once again pulls himself away from her, "Allura, you know we can't do this here."

Sobbing now, Allura pulls away from him to sink to the floor. Keith runs his hand through his hair and then kneels down beside her to pull her back into his arms. Allura clings to him as she continues to cry. "Shhh…it's all right Angel, I'm here." he whispers to her while stroking her hair.

Once she begins to quiet down, Keith rises to his feet, pulling Allura up along with him as she continues to cling to him. Once they are standing, he kisses her forehead before asking, "So what happened?"

Sniffling, Allura opens her mouth to answer when the door to Keith's study opens and Coran walks in. He stops just inside the door, his eyes turning glacial as he asks, "Commander, why is the Princess of Arus in your arms?"

Keith glares at him before he tightly responds, "My _friend_ came in here crying and I was comforting her." His own eyes turn quite glacial, "Want to tell my why she would be crying Coran?"

Continuing to glare at the commander suspiciously, Coran responds, "It is not something that you need to interfere with and Princess Allura should know better than to bring you into it."

Pulling away from Keith, Allura cries out at them, "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU JUST STOP IT!" and runs around Keith's desk and out of the room.

Coran glares at Keith for a moment longer before he turns around and leaves the room.

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Keith sits in his room that night a bit worried. Allura never made it to dinner and when Lance asked Nanny about it, he was quickly told to mind his own business. His mind working as he tries to figure out a way to get to her without being caught, Keith glances up, shocked, when his door opens and Allura, dressed in her bathrobe, quickly walks through it.

Standing up from his bed, he utters, "Allura!" as she runs across the room and into his arms, crying, "I need you Keith…please don't send me away."

Knowing the risk they are taking, Keith holds her tight to him before lowering his head to kiss her. Allura whimpers quietly as he moves his lips along hers before his tongue gently eases into her mouth to stroke it.

As Allura returns the kiss, she reaches between them to begin unbuttoning Keith's nightshirt and once the last button is undone, she pushes it off his shoulders, leaving him with a bare chest. Groaning as her fingers caress his muscular chest, Keith pulls his mouth away and stares down at the sapphire blue gaze that is staring up at him with desire. Managing to get his own desire under control, however briefly, he asks, "Were you followed?"

She shakes her head at him, but he asks again, "Are you sure?"

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Allura nods, "Yes…"

Keith lowers his mouth to kiss Allura again as he tightens his arms around her. Moving away from her mouth, he kisses his way to her neck and softly bites the skin just below her ear then licks it. Listening to the gasp that escapes her, Keith places a kiss on her ear then whispers, "This is a bad idea, if you are discovered missing, you know Coran will come here to look for you."

He feels Allura kiss the side of his neck before she responds, "I don't care…I need you." She runs her hand down his hard, muscled chest once more before her fingers dip below the waistband of his pajama bottoms. Her fingers grasp his hardening shaft, as she listens to his groan of pleasure, she continues, "A week Keith…a week since you've touched me!" She finds his lips and kisses him again before adding, "It felt like a lifetime."

Attacking her mouth again, Keith plunges his tongue into it as his hands quickly untie the knot to her bathrobe and pushes it off her shoulders. Grabbing the fabric of her nightgown, he pulls it up until he can grab the ends with his hands and yanks it up over her head.

Once she is nude within his arms, Keith bends her back as he lowers his mouth along her neck, kissing her collarbone then kissing his way to her breasts. As he pulls her engorged nipple into his mouth, Keith listens to her loud moans of pleasure as her fingers move into his hair, as if to use it as an anchor.

Arching her back even more; which pushes more of her breast into his mouth, Allura cries out, "Please Keith! Now! I need you now!"

Giving into her pleas, Keith releases her breast and picks her up into his arms to carry her to his bed. Lying her down on it, he pulls away for a moment to remove the rest of his own clothes before joining her.

Allura immediately spreads her legs, getting Keith to press his weight where she wants it to be. As his hardened shaft brushes against her hot, moist center, Allura whimpers and wraps her legs around him before once again saying, "Now! Please Keith, now!"

Unable to deny her, Keith pushes into her and listens to her groan of relief. His own groan escapes him as Allura begins to push her hips against him, urging him to move. Once again granting her wish, he starts thrusting in and out of her. As her whimpers become more audible, Keith pulls out of her, listening to her begin to say, "No…" before he moves them around.

Pulling Allura onto her side, Keith lies behind her and pushes back into her while placing a love bite on her neck. Allura reaches behind her, to grab onto his neck as he continues his thrusting while his hands move around her to begin playing with her breasts.

The added stimulation of his fingers rolling her nipples pushes Allura over the edge and she cries out her orgasm as Keith thrusts a final time and groans into her ear while his body shudders with his release.

Keith holds Allura close to him until she shivers slightly. Whispering, he asks, "Cold?"

She shivers again and quietly answers, "Yes."

Finally separating their bodies, Keith pulls the blankets out from under them and pulls them up around Allura before joining her underneath them. As she snuggles into his chest, Keith lets out a sigh, "You won't be able to stay long."

Rubbing her cheek along his chest, Allura answers quietly, "I know."

She feels him kiss the top of her head and asks, "Will there ever be a time when we will be able to be together without hiding it?"

Keith releases a sigh as he runs his fingers into her hair, "I don't know the answer to that Allura. You know the laws regarding whom you can marry. Unless the council will approve it, they won't allow you to just choose to marry me because I am not royalty."

He listens to her quietly begin to cry again before she sobs out, "It's not fair! I've given up everything for this planet." She rises to look into his face, "I won't give you up…I won't give up my love."

Keith smiles sadly at her while wiping her tears off her face, "I love you Allura and I would move heaven and earth to be with you."

She leans down to kiss him and Keith deepens the kiss while his arms go around her to hold her close to his body. A deep sigh leaves Allura as his tongue gently sweeps hers into his mouth and she reaches down his body to fondle him.

A deep groan escapes Keith as he breaks the kiss and throws his head back. Allura takes the opportunity to sit up and straddle his hips. Keith drops his head to look at her. She smiles down at him before bending over and flicking her tongue at a nipple. His hands move to Allura's hips and squeezes them as her fingers graze over his chest while she continues to lick then suck on his nipple.

Unable to take her teasing anymore, Keith lifts her hips up and sets her down on his throbbing shaft. Gasping as he pushes into her, Allura sits back up with her head thrown back, a groan escaping her at the feeling of fullness within her.

Keith pulls on her hips and she begins to move against him. Reaching backward, she holds onto his thighs while pushing herself forward and backward to Keith's continued groans of encouragement. Pulling himself up, he pulls a nipple into his mouth to suck on as she continues to move. He moves his hands from her hips to her buttocks, squeezing them as he directs her movements.

Releasing his thighs, Allura throws her arms around Keith's neck as she comes hard. As he feels her vaginal muscles squeezing him during her climax, he can't help but let himself go and groans as he holds her close to him.

The door to his room opening has Keith pushing Allura behind him as he turns to face the people entering his room. Coran glares down at them as Nanny stands beside him, her face, for once, carefully neutral. Keith glances behind the advisor to see guards standing in the hallway before turning his gaze back to Coran, who growls out, "How dare you betray us this way?"

Keith says nothing to him as Coran picks up Allura's bathrobe and throws it at her, "Cover yourself. I'm glad your father is dead so he can't see how shameful his only daughter is behaving."

Turning his head, Keith looks back at Allura briefly, noting the look of terror in her eyes. He whispers, "It will be all right Allura, cover up."

She nods and turns away while throwing her bathrobe on. With his eyes averted, Coran growls out, "Nanny, take her Highness to her room and see that she does not leave it."

Keith watches as Nanny walks around his bed to take Allura's elbow and guides her out of the room, followed by one of the guards standing in the hallway. He turns his gaze back to Coran who is still glaring at him. Taking a deep breath, he quietly says, "I love her Coran. I won't apologize for that."

His eyes flashing his rage, Coran growls, "Get dressed. The guards are taking you to the detention center. The Arusian Council and Galaxy Garrison will decide your fate." Without another word, he turns around and leaves the room.

Keith watches as a guard walks in, pointing his gun at him, "Get dressed Commander. I have my orders."

Nodding while letting out a sigh, Keith rises and walks to his dresser to grab some clothing.

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Walking into her room, Allura feels a little disturbed by Nanny's quietness as they moved down the hallway. Of all the people, she never thought Nanny would remain calm and was waiting for the explosion. Tears run out of her eyes as she sits down on her bed and watches Nanny move around the room straightening things, not paying any attention to Allura at all.

Wiping at her cheeks, Allura quietly asks, "What are they going to do to Keith?"

Nanny finally turns to her and studies her for a moment before saying, "The Arusian Council will decide his punishment." She becomes quiet for a moment before the dam bursts, "How could you do that Princess? How could you be with that man when you aren't married to him?" As Allura looks away from her, Nanny continues, "Have you no respect for your office or yourself? What will the people think when they find out their princess was caught fornicating with a man she is not married to. When I think of what your father would say…"

Allura turns back around to her governess, "Father approved of Keith! He came to us over five month ago Nanny and gave us his blessing." She pauses for a moment, "I love him…it can't be wrong to be with the man I love."

The older woman glares at her for a moment then begins to walk to the bathroom, "I will draw you a bath. Please wash yourself thoroughly."

Tears continue out of Allura's eyes as she pushes her face into her pillows.

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Later, Allura walks out of her bathroom dressed in a fresh nightgown and bathrobe to find Coran sitting in a chair near her window. She stops where she is and watches as he looks her up and down, the disappointment obvious in his face.

Steeling herself for the conversation to come, Allura walks forward to take the chair across from him. He continues to watch her silently for several more minutes before he finally asks, "Why?"

Allura looks away from him for a moment to look out at the night sky before turning her gaze back to Coran, a determined look in her eyes as she states, "Because I love him and wanted to be with him."

She pushes herself back into her chair more as rage flashes in Coran's eyes as he growls at her, "For how long?"

Taking a deep breath, Allura replies, "I've loved him since he kissed my hand and devoted himself to me and Arus three years ago."

A snarling sound leaves Coran as he sits forward in the chair, "You've fornicated with him for that long?"

Allura is a bit shocked as she shakes her head at Coran. He sits back in his seat and repeats his question, "For how long?"

Shaking her head, Allura responds, "I won't answer that question Coran." As he puffs up in anger again, Allura's eyes become steely and she tightens her face, "I won't give you that kind of information to use against Keith."

Coran sucks in a deep breath as he yells, "I know it wasn't the first time…there would have been blood on the sheets if it had been...now how long?"

Turning her face away from him, Allura repeats, "I won't allow you to hurt Keith that way."

Standing up, Coran towers over the princess, "You have no idea what you have done! According to the laws of Arus, Keith has committed an act of treason by fornicating with the Princess of Arus. The Arusian Council will now decide his fate and that will most likely be banishment from Arus." He takes a step closer to Allura, "Lotor will be dancing the jig when he finds out that the Voltron Force has been taken apart from within."

Turning away from her, Coran quickly walks to the door and hits it with his fist. As the door opens, he turns to glare at her once more before walking out of it. Allura curls into a ball in the chair as the tears run out of her eyes."

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Sitting on the cot in his cell in the detention center, Keith curses himself for being a fool, '_Damn it…I knew better than that. We should have at least gone to the other room.'_ Running his hand over his stubble-roughened jaw, he looks up as the door to the detention center opens and Coran walks in.

Staying on the cot, he watches as Coran walks up to the bars and glares at him. Keith holds his stare, refusing to back down until the older man snarls at him, "How long has this been going on?"

Keith blinks, but maintains his silence as the older man continues to glare at him. As the silence drags on, Coran finally growls, "You will answer me!"

Shaking his head, Keith lies down on the cot and turns away from the adviser so he faces the wall. Coran glares at him for several more moments before turning around and leaving the room. Keith closes his eyes when he hears the door to the detention center open and then closes as his mind goes to his beloved, wondering how she is doing.


	7. Chapter 7

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 7:

Despite the lateness of the hour, Nanny quickly walks down the hallway. Upon reaching her destination, she knocks hard on the door. At the sound of the man's voice within beckoning her to enter, she presses the button to open the door. Walking into the room, the governess finds Coran sitting in a winged back chair near the fireplace. He stands up to greet her, "Nanny…is there something amiss? Did Allura escape out of her room?"

Shaking her head in answer, Nanny asks her own question, "Coran, what is going to happen to Princess and the commander?"

She sees a flash of anger in the old advisor's eyes before it disappears, only to be replaced by a regretful look. As he sits back down in his chair, looking older than his years, Coran finally answers, "They broke the law Nanny. They knew of it and willingly carried on with their affair anyway. The council is convening tomorrow morning to decide their fate. Most likely the commander will be sent away and Princess reprimanded."

"But she loves him…" The statement is a mere whisper as it slips past Nanny's lips; her earlier anger with Allura had dissipated as she watched her charge cry herself to sleep.

A deep sigh escapes Coran as he replies, "I am sure that she does, just as much as Keith is in love with her, but it doesn't change the fact that there is a law forbidding Allura's relationship with him." His eyes harden slightly and his tone turns cold as he states, "It was my duty to the monarchy to stop them."

Nanny watches her old friend quietly for a while before she asks, "But what of our duty to Allura?"

"I am fulfilling my duty to her by stopping this travesty Nanny." Coran answers coldly. "She can only marry another royal, and must, to continue the line. That will never happen if I blindly allow her to continue carrying on with the commander."

"But he is a good man…"

Nanny watches as the anger leaves Coran, as he seems to shrink in the chair. He wipes his face tiredly then replies, "I know that Nanny. Do you think I have not been fighting with myself over this all along? Keith has put his life on the line many times to save not only Arus, but Allura as well." His eyes turn pleading as he adds, "But he is not royalty. My duty to Arus must come before my personal feelings about either of them." His tone turns quiet but angry once more as he finishes, "And damn them both for putting me into this position."

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The next morning, Lance, Hunk and Pidge walk into castle control a bit shocked to find the only one in there is Coran. Lance walks up to the dais, a sense for foreboding pervading him, to ask, "Where are Keith and Allura? Aren't we practicing this morning?"

Coran glares down at the three of them, "No, the commander is under house arrest for treason against Arus and Princess Allura is locked into her room."

Lance pales slightly as his mind races at the implications of that statement before he asks for confirmation, "What did Keith do to be arrested for treason?"

Studying them closely to see if they actually know anything, Coran slowly speaks, "I caught Princess Allura and Commander Keith fornicating last night. Being unmarried makes that an act of treason under our laws."

Noting the look of astonishment on the three faces before him, Coran is satisfied that they didn't know of the actions of the commander and princess. He turns to Pidge who asks quietly, "What is going to happen to them?"

Coran's jaw tightens slightly and he watches as a look of anger enters Lance's eyes before he replies, "That is up to the Arusian Council to decide. They will be meeting this morning to discuss it." He turns away from them, "Please excuse me. I have much to do today."

A boiling rage races through Lance's veins as he gestures to the other two to follow him. Walking down the hall, Lance heads for Allura's room only to be stopped, not by the two guards standing in front of the door, but by Nanny as she places her hands on her hips and growls, "Where do you think you are going?"

Lance glares at her as his icy voice growls back at her, "We want to see Princess."

Nanny doesn't back down, nor act afraid of the three men glaring at her, "She is to see no one until the council decides the commander's fate."

When they continue to stand before her, Nanny signals to the guards who step forward with their guns, "Now please leave."

The temptation to throw Nanny at the guards races through Lance as Hunk grabs his elbow, "Come on Lance…it isn't worth the fight."

The lieutenant rips his arm away from him as he turns around and walks away. Hunk and Pidge quickly catch up to him and Pidge asks, "What are we doing now?"

Rage unlike anything Lance has ever felt before courses through his veins as he states, "We are going to go see our friend and discuss why he couldn't confide in us." Hunk and Pidge look at each other worried as they continue to follow the lieutenant down the hallway.

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As Lance continues to his fast walk down the hallway, Hunk and Pidge follow behind him. They stop just before the detention center when two of the palace guards step in front of the doors, stopping them. Lance's icy eyes glare at them as he orders, "Step aside."

One of the guards answers him, "By order of Coran, no one is allowed in to see the commander until the Arusian Council has met."

Glancing back at Hunk and Pidge, who nod at him, Lance's voice becomes low and dangerous, "You can either move aside or be moved. It is your choice, but you know you can't stop us."

The other guard raises his gun as the first one speaks again, "Please sir…we have our orders."

Losing his patience, Lance yells, "Orders be damned, now move or be moved!"

Hunk steps up beside the lieutenant and cracks his knuckles, "Don't think we won't do it."

The guards glance at each other for a moment before they let out a sigh. Stepping aside, they open the door, allowing the three of them to pass by.

As they walk into the room, Lance watches as Keith quickly rises from his bed to step up to the bars of his cell, a relieved look on his face, "Lance!"

Lance finishes walking to the cell door but doesn't say anything for a moment. He studies his best friend, the man he thought could tell him anything, before his anger spews out, "What the fuck where you thinking Keith?"

He doesn't let him answer as he lets out a self-depreciating laugh, "Oh I know what the fuck you were thinking, but why the hell couldn't you confide in us? I thought we were your friends!"

Keith hangs his head in shame as he clings to the cell doors. When he finally raises his head several quiet minutes later, Lance, Pidge and Hunk are taken aback by the tears running out of his eyes as he whispers, "I love her…and they wouldn't let us be together. I couldn't let you know…if we were found out, I didn't want them to be able to hold you three responsible for it."

He releases the bars and goes to sit back down dejectedly on his bed while wiping his face. Lance glances back at Hunk and Pidge who both look just as dejected as Keith does before he turns back to him. Grabbing the bars, Lance asks, "What do you want us to do Keith? Get you out of here?"

Looking back up, Keith shakes his head, "No, then you will be in trouble with me."

Feeling his frustration and impatience rising rapidly, Lance growls out, "What then? We can't just leave you in here!"

Standing back up and walking back to the bars, Keith reaches through to grab Lance's shoulder, "Take care of Allura for me…if…" he pauses for a moment, "If they force me to leave Arus, I want to know you three will be here to take care of her."

Lance lets out a frustrated breath as he turns away and runs his hand through his hair in agitation. Keith pleads with him, "Please Lance, don't do anything that will get you three punished with me. Allura needs you here."

As Lance turns back to glare at him, Hunk speaks up, "Like we need you here Cap, but we aren't being given a say in the matter."

Keith turns his eyes back to them, "What is going on?"

Pidge speaks before the other two can, "We aren't sure…after Coran told us about finding you and Princess…" he stops a moment to clear his throat before continuing, "He said Princess would remain locked in her room and you here in detention until the council has met and decided a course of action."

Letting out a sigh, Keith turns his gaze back to Lance, "How is Allura?"

He shrugs as Pidge speaks again, "We can't get near her…she is being guarded more heavily than you are. Nanny is watching over her."

Keith grimaces then lets out a deep sigh, "You three better go…Coran will bring down the castle if he finds you here."

Nodding, Hunk and Pidge turn towards the door. Keith grabs onto Lance as he turns to leave, "I've never asked anything of you Lance…if it comes down to them sending me away, I want your word that you will stay and take care of Allura."

Lance studies his eyes for a moment before nodding wordlessly and turning away to follow Hunk and Pidge out of the room. Keith watches them until the door closes then goes to lie back down on his cot.

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Coran sighs as he stands witness before the Council of Arus, answering their questions as they delve into the act of treason committed by the princess and commander. Letting out a sigh, he once again walks through the chain of events, "A little over two weeks ago, I began to wonder about her Highness and the commander's relationship when I noticed the princess taking, "liberties" with the commander, things such as touching his arm or singling him out for her attention."

He pauses a moment to take a breath and a sip of water before continuing, "I have had the princess closely watched since I became suspicious of that relationship. It wasn't until yesterday when I walked into the commander's office to find him holding her that my suspicions were confirmed. Then last night, when Nanny reported to me that Princess Allura was not in her room, I knew where to look for her." Pausing again, Coran lets out a deep disappointed sigh as he reports, "I found them together in the commander's bed…they had just…finished…fornicating."

One of the council members stands to ask, "How long has this…relationship…been occurring?"

Coran shakes his head, "I do not know, nor will either of them give me any such information."

The council members talk amongst themselves for a moment before turning back to Coran. The head of the council asks, "What are the repercussions of banishing the commander from Arus?"

Coran lets out a deep sigh and looks down for a moment. Within his mind, a battle is waged between his duty to Arus, its monarchy, and his knowledge of Keith's dedication to Arus and its princess. When he looks back up, his eyes appear slightly watery, "The commander is the heart and soul of the Voltron Force. He keeps them together and has pulled us out of harm's way more times than I care to count." Pausing for a moment, Coran continues, "I have always had the highest respect for him and his decisions." He looks up into the council members' faces, "I believe him when he says he loves her, not that it makes this any less of a crime."

Several more moments of silence fill the air before Coran continues, "I do fear for Arus' future if the commander is banished. He is a man of extraordinary talent and his skill at strategic planning is nearly legendary."

Another Council member stands, "Surely the Garrison has more than one man capable of strategic planning Coran."

The advisor lets out a deep sigh before he responds, "Yes I am sure they do, but none that will give of themselves as selflessly as the commander has."

A snide snort leaves the eldest member, "Yes, he was so selfless that he took our Princess' virginity with no thought to her future or that of Arus."

Coran looks away, unable to come up with anything that would even sound appropriate, given the charges. He looks back up as the chair of the council draws his attention, "Leave us to discuss this Coran. We will let you know our decision as soon as it is made."

Nodding, Coran turns around and leaves the room.

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After being summoned five hours later, Coran walks tentatively into the council chambers to find the men waiting for him. Pausing in the middle of the room, he stops and waits silently for them to begin. The head of the council stands and lets out a deep sigh. He glances at the men around him before turning back to Coran.

Feeling the tension in the air, Coran stiffens as the man begins to speak, "After much deliberating, we have come to a decision." He glances once again around the council chambers, "Although, not all of us agree, there was a majority vote."

Nodding, Coran continues to stand silently as he watches the head of the council struggle with himself before continuing, "We want you to write up a complaint against the commander and send it to Admiral Graham's office listing our charge of treason. While we will not punish the commander ourselves, we do want him replaced with a commander who will respect the office of her Highness and all that entails."

Dread fills Coran as he asks, "And what of her Highness?"

The man lets out another sigh, "Keep her locked in her room until Galaxy Garrison can send someone to retrieve the commander. She may leave her room thereafter and we will personally reprimand her at that time."

Coran nods then turns around and leaves the room.

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The next day, Allura stands near her windows, staring out of them. She watches a ship come in for a landing and several officials stepping out of it. Continuing to watch closely, Allura watches as Coran walks up to greet them then shows them into the castle. She turns around as the door to her room opens and Nanny walks in carrying a tray of food. Allura quickly rushes over to her, "Who are those men Nanny?"

The older woman doesn't answer immediately as she finishes walking to the table and sets the tray down. Turning around she finds Allura wringing her hands as she pleads, "Please Nanny, what is going on?"

Letting out a sigh, Nanny turns back around and proceeds to take the lids off the plates on the tray as she answers, "Men from Galaxy Garrison." After the last lid has been removed, she turns back to Allura, "They are here to escort the commander off of Arus."

"WHAT?" Allura runs up to her governess and grabs her hands, "They can't take him away from me, please stop this Nanny!"

Shaking her head, Nanny replies, "There is nothing I can do child, the Arusian Council placed a complaint with Admiral Graham's office and the commander is being transferred."

Allura cries out, "NO!" and turns to run at her door. When it won't open as she repeatedly pushes the button, she sinks to the floor sobbing.

Walking over to her, Nanny pleads, "Please Princess…"

Rising quickly, Allura grabs her, "Please take me to them…I can stop this! I need to stop this!"

The older woman shakes her head until Allura cries out, "PLEASE! If you have ever loved me, you will help me!"

A tear runs out of Nanny's eye as she takes several deep breaths. Looking down into the red, puffy, pleading, sapphire eyes of the woman she loves like her own child, Nanny finally nods. She pushes Allura aside and knocks at the door as she commands, "Open now."

The door slides open and Allura races out of it to the yelling of the guards that were standing near the door. Nanny quickly follows her.

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Sitting on the bed in his cell, Keith's mind is racing, '_What the hell is going on? Damn Coran and his interference.'_

The doors to the detention center opening have him raising his head in attention. Watching the Galaxy Garrison solders walking into the room leaves Keith feeling a deep sense of dread. As an officer stops before his cell, he stands and listens as the man asks, "Commander Kogane?"

Nodding, Keith holds himself still as rage builds inside of him while the man speaks, "By orders of Admiral Graham, we are to escort you off of Planet Arus and back to Earth sir, where you will face a court martial. The charge is conduct unbecoming an officer of Galaxy Garrison."

The man signals the guards to open the door to Keith's cell. Stepping inside, the man orders, "Hold out your hands."

Gritting his teeth, Keith does as commanded and watches as the man slaps cuffs on his wrists then grabs his arm to lead him out of the cell and through the doors to the detention center.

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Allura races down the hallways, Nanny and several guards following right behind her. Sliding to a stop in front of the detention center, she opens the doors to find the room empty. Crying out, "NO!" she turns to run back out of the room and heads for the front of the castle.

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Keith walks down the stairs leading out of the castle toward the Garrison ship waiting for him. His mind racing, '_There is no way out of this…FUCK!'_ He passes by Lance, Hunk and Pidge, his eyes meeting Lance's and holding them. Lance nods to him in understanding, _'Do nothing.'_

Despair fills his chest as he nears the ship but he stops when he hears her voice screaming behind him, "STOP! Do not take him…I order you to stop!"

Turning around, Keith watches the love of his life running toward him. As two of Garrison soldiers run to intercept her, Allura starts screaming as they grab her, "UNHAND ME!"

Keith yells at them, "Take your hands off of her!" and tries to run to her until his guards grab him. Reacting to the woman he loves continued screaming, Keith turns and does a round house kick, knocking down the two guards holding him.

Racing to her side, Keith uses his cuffed hands to hit one guard alongside of the head knocking him out and kicks at the other one, his foot making contact with the man's chest and knocking him backward onto the ground.

Managing to get an arm loose, Allura punches the remaining guard in the nose, knocking him off his feet, then wraps her arms around Keith's neck while crying, "Don't leave me, please don't leave me!"

Keith takes a deep breath, inhaling her scent as she raises her face and begins kissing him. Returning the kiss for a moment, Keith pulls back enough to say, "I love you Allura…forever." then he cries out in pain as he is hit in the back of the head by the butt end of a gun.

Crying out, "NO!" Allura stands to attack the man who hit Keith only to stop when she finds the barrel of a gun pointed right at her forehead. The man growls out, "Back…" then stops when he feels the barrel of a gun against the side of his own head.

Turning his head slightly, he looks into the furious looking eyes of Lieutenant McClain, who coldly states, "I wouldn't even think of that if I were you." The man glares at Lance then spits out, "Then get her to back off."

Continuing to hold the gun on him, Lance turns his head to find the other soldiers walking toward them and picking Keith up, to carry him to the ship. Allura cries out again, but this time Lance grabs her arm and pulls her against him, "You can't help him Allura…you are only making things worse for Keith."

Crying, she sinks to the ground next to Lance. Once the Garrison soldiers all turn to head back to the ship, Lance drops the gun and pulls Allura up into his arms, "It will be all right Princess."

Lance carries her past Hunk and Pidge, who turn to follow him, before pausing before Coran. Listening to Allura's continued sobbing against him, Lance growls out, "Happy?" Not waiting for an answer, he continues into the castle.

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Lance makes his way to Allura's room, his rage for Coran, the idiots of Garrison and the Arus Council building as he listens to her continued sobbing. He pauses by the door to her room, but before he can shift her to punch the code in to open the door, Hunk reaches up and enters it for him.

Nodding his thanks, Lance walks into the room and then heads for the bed. As he attempts to lay Allura down on it, she clings to his neck crying out, "They took him away…they took my love…"

Tightening his arms around her, Lance listens as she sobs out, "I have nothing now…nothing…"

He glances up to watch as Hunk clenches his fists and Pidge's whole body becomes stiff with his anger as well. Letting out a deep breath to calm himself down, Lance strokes Allura's hair, wishing he could say something that will take away her pain but knows nothing short of taking out the lions and retrieving Keith will accomplish that.

Turning his head as the door opens, Lance watches as Nanny enters the room. She pauses a moment as she watches Allura sob then comes bustling over, giving orders, "I will take care of her Highness. You need to leave." She turns her gaze to Hunk and Pidge, "All of you do…you cannot be in her Highness' bedchamber, it isn't proper."

Lance opens his mouth to yell at her, but Hunk beats him to it, "We aren't hurting anything by being here and Princess needs us."

The governess turns red in the face as she yells, "She is already in enough trouble…don't you see that your presence here could cause her further problems?"

Hunk and Pidge look at each other uncertainly and Lance lets out a sigh as he acknowledges, at least to himself, that Nanny has a point, not that he would ever agree verbally. The council would love to tear into her for them being there. He growls to himself, '_I should have taken her to the rec room…then they couldn't have said anything.'_

He kisses the side of Allura's head and murmurs to her, "Rest now…I'll check on you later." then slowly pulls himself away from her. With a sigh, Lance rises to stand next to the bed and watches as the princess curls up into a ball on the bed as she continues to sob.

Allowing himself to be pushed out of the room by Nanny, Lance follows Hunk and Pidge out the door and turns to glance back at Allura briefly, as the governess shuts the door in his face. Turning back to Hunk and Pidge, he lets out a sigh as Pidge quietly asks, "Now what?"

Shaking his head as he starts to walk away, Lance answers, "I don't know Pidge…I don't know." Moving slowly and dejectedly, he walks toward the rec room.


	8. Chapter 8

On we go…things always are darkest before they turn light. Enjoy.

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 8:

The next day, Admiral Graham walks swiftly down a hallway at Galaxy Garrison's headquarters on Earth, toward the judicial chambers. Several men start to greet him only to quickly turn away when they see the look on his face. Upon reaching his destination, he furiously pulls the door open and walks in to find the court already in session.

Taking a seat off to one side, Admiral Graham looks at the man standing in the center of the room and his fury gives way to concern. While he appears to be in good health, despite appearing slightly pale, it is the look in his eyes, or rather, the apparent lack of emotion in his eyes that has the admiral concerned.

Admiral Graham motions to one of the men who had been standing guard over the commander to come to him. After gesturing to the man to sit beside him, Graham asks, "Has the commander been like this since Arus?"

The guard sighs quietly as his eyes drift over the commander briefly, "Since he awoke on the ship…yes…" the guard pauses for a moment before adding, "When he first woke up and realized where he was, he let out this God awful…scream…like a man being ripped apart at the seams." The guard grimaces at the memory, "Then the commander became very calm and didn't say another word."

Admiral Graham sits silently listening to the dialog before asking, "Did he eat or sleep?"

The guard shakes his head, "He only slept an hour or two and refused all food."

Letting out a deep sigh, Admiral Graham dismisses the guard to return to his station and fixes his eyes on Keith as the court martial begins. The admiral in charge of the court martial looks Keith over with disdain as he repeats the charges, "Commander Kogane, you have been charged with conduct unbecoming an officer of Galaxy Garrison. How do you plead?"

Keith stands in the middle of the room, silent, as AdmiralKahler becomes agitated and repeats in a much louder voice, "COMMANDER KOGANE, HOW DO YOU PLEAD?"

The loud voice penetrates the pain-filled fog within his mind and Keith finally looks up from his position in the middle of the room. He studies the men before him, sitting around the panel, as he tries to overcome his misery enough to answer the admiral's question. His voice fails him though and all Keith can do is shake his head slightly before looking back down to the floor.

As the admiral turns red with his rage, Admiral Graham stands up and walks across the room to stand in front of Keith. His sharp blue eyes take in Keith's pallor before he yells, "Name, rank!"

Keith looks up into the face of the man he has always respected. He opens his mouth to answer as he has been trained to do, but nothing comes out. He tries to open his mouth again to speak, but settles for taking a deep breath…the blistering pain closing his throat. He gives up and lowers his gaze once more.

Admiral Graham continues to stand in front of Keith rigidly, completely shocked by the level of despair he saw enter the man's eyes before he had looked away. Speaking quietly, Graham asks, "Commander, can you answer?"

He watches as Keith's body begins to tremble uncontrollably before the bowed head in front of him shakes in the negative. Letting out a deep sigh, Admiral Graham turns around and walks to the bench. As Kahler raises an eyebrow at him, Admiral Graham speaks slowly and calmly to him, "Continue as if he had answered you and sentence him as we discussed…as soon as you are finished here I want him sent to the medical bay."

After receiving a nod in answer, Admiral Graham returns to his seat. A moment of silence passes before Admiral Kahler continues, "We have received a complaint from the ruling council of Arus regarding your behavior there as well as the testimony from the castle diplomat, who found you and the Princess of Arus together. Do you have anything to say in your defense before sentencing?"

Kahler watches Keith stand stoically for a moment more, before continuing snidely, "By your lack of speech…I am guessing you don't."

Admiral Graham bristles in his seat while fury runs through his veins, '_That insolent ass…'_

However, Admiral Graham remains silent as the court martial finishes, "Commander Kogane, given your history of service to the Garrison and the complaint filed by the Council of Arus, I hereby sentence you to one week in the brig. Your rank will be lowered to lieutenant and you will be transferred to a new post permanently." Kahler stops for a moment to see if Keith will react and when he doesn't, the admiral sourly grabs his gavel and hits the pedestal, "Case dismissed."

Graham waits until Keith is lead away then stands to speak to an aid, "Catch up with the guards, have them take the…lieutenant…to the medical bay and get him examined."

As the aid nods and quickly walks out of the room, he steps up to the bench and finally gains the attention of Kahler who turns, "Yes, Admiral Graham?"

The admiral studies the man for a moment before saying, "Did you enjoy torturing a man who obviously was in pain and unable to speak, or are you always such a blind ass?" As Kahler bristles and begins to stutter a reply, Admiral Graham turns around and walks out of the room.

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An hour later, Admiral Graham walks into the medical bay and stops before an observation window. Inside a doctor is going over a data-pad and looking at the monitors in front of him while writing down his observations.

Frustrated when the man doesn't notice him, Admiral Graham taps lightly on the window to gain his attention. As the doctor finally looks back at him, Graham motions him to come out of the room. The doctor nods and raises his finger to indicate one minute then turns back to his monitors.

Stifling his impatience, Admiral Graham turns his attention to the man in the bed. His eyes run up the length of him, taking in his still pale appearance and pain filled eyes before turning to watch the doctor walk out of the room.

Dr. Smythe steps out of the room and presses the button to close the door before turning his attention to the admiral. Admiral Graham is silent for a moment but when the doctor doesn't speak, he almost growls out, "Well?"

Letting out a sigh, Dr. Smythe holds his data-pad against him before saying, "Commander…I mean, Lieutenant Kogane is in good health."

A snort leaves Admiral Graham as he steps back to the window to look at Keith, "He sure as hell doesn't look healthy!"

He turns back to the doctor as the man lets out another sigh before continuing, "I meant physically, he is healthy. I was told the circumstances of his presence here. If I had to guess…I would say what you are seeing is a man grieving the loss of his…loved one."

Admiral Graham takes a step back and looks through the window again, "And that explains his inability to speak?"

"Sometimes…immediately following a death or in this case, being taken away from a loved one in such a manner, can trigger the inability to speak." The doctor explains as he turns to look through the window at the man lying in the bed.

Watching him for a moment more, Admiral Graham turns back to the doctor, "How do you treat it?"

Dr. Smythe shakes his head, "Grief is a process…he needs to work his way through it the same as anyone else." He turns back to face the admiral, "When the shock wears off, I am sure Lieutenant Kogane will find his voice again."

Admiral Graham lets out a sigh of relief until the doctor continues, "However, I suggest you keep an eye on him, grief can give way to depression and depression left untreated, can be very dangerous."

Turning his gaze back to Keith's pale form, Admiral Graham nods, "I'll have him watched."

Dr. Smythe nods and turns to walk away as the admiral takes a deep breath and turns to walk back out of the medical bay.

Inside the room, Keith raises his eyes as he watches the doctor and the admiral speak before turning his gaze back to the wall on the other side. The pain that has been with him since he woke up on the ship engulfs him again and makes his entire chest ache to the point that breathing becomes painful. Closing his eyes, Keith's mind drifts back to Allura and the look on her face as she begged him not to leave her.

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Standing by the landing bay, Lance watches the ship from Pollux finish its landing procedures. The engines shut down before the bay door opens and a very solemn looking couple descends the platform. Raising his hand in greeting, Lance waits until they stand before him before saying to the man quietly, "Glad you could make it Sven…" He turns his eyes to the beautiful woman on his arm, "Romelle…"

Stepping forward, she grasps his arm, "How is Allura?"

Shaking his head, Lance lets out a sigh before answering, "I don't know…Hurricane Nanny won't let me or any of the other guys near her. I haven't seen Allura since I carried her back into her room yesterday, after they took Keith away."

Romelle looks between the two men and notices the anger building inside both of them. Shaking her head, she leans over to Sven, kissing his cheek, "I'm going to go check on her…Nanny will not keep me out." Sven gives her a tight nod before watching her hurry into the castle.

Turning his gaze back to Lance, he notes the angry expression in his friend's eyes and asks, "What the fuck happened?"

Lance lets out a disdainful snort, "You tell me and then we will both know." Signaling Sven to follow him, Lance leads him into the castle as he talks, "I have no idea when…but apparently Keith and Allura started a relationship and kept it well hidden for a quite a while." He pauses in his step as he turns to look back at Sven, "I mean…I always knew that Keith cared more for her than just friendship…but I didn't think he would ever act on it." He lets out a sarcastic laugh, "Shows how much I know."

Looking away, Lance starts walking again as he leads Sven toward castle control, "Somehow Coran found out about it and caught Keith and Allura in bed together…"fornicating"…as he called it." Just before the doors to castle control, he stops again to finish speaking, "What I didn't know is that apparently there is some law here on Arus regarding royalty and their relationships." Lance studies Sven's face closely as he growls out, "They arrested Keith for treason against Arus for sleeping with Allura. The council had him transferred off the planet."

He lets out another deep snort of contempt, "I mean…forget how many times that man has saved everyone's asses on this planet or how many times he has almost died protecting Allura, because he had sex with her...they've kicked him out."

Slamming his fist against the control panel on the wall, the doors to castle control slowly open and Lance turns away from Sven to walk into the room. Sven pauses a moment to get his anger under control then walks into the room.

Coran turns away from the monitors but doesn't smile as he says, "Welcome Commander Holgersson, I'm glad you could come cover the lions until the Garrison situation is figured out."

Letting out a snort, Sven crosses his arms, "You would be better off getting Keith back here."

Shaking his head, Coran turns around before speaking, "Impossible, the council would never allow it."

Sven stares at the advisor's back for several moments then turns to look at Lance, who had gone to stand beside Hunk and Pidge. Letting out a sigh, Sven steps closer and asks, "What is the situation with Lotor? Does he know Keith's gone?"

Coran shakes his head as he turns back around, "I'm assuming he doesn't know yet or he would have attacked already." Turning his gaze briefly to the other three men, who glare at him, Coran turns back to Sven, "Garrison just sent a message. The new commander should be here tomorrow…training should commence immediately."

After nodding in acknowledgement, Sven turns around to the others, "Let's go."

Hunk nods and turns to follow Sven and Pidge out of the room. Lance stares at Coran for a moment before turning to follow them. Coran watches the four men leave the room, letting out a deep sigh. He runs a hand over his tired face before turning back around to continue watching the monitors.

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Romelle reaches the hallway to Allura's room and is shocked by the guards near the door. She walks up to Allura's bedroom and knocks on the door. She taps her foot impatiently while waiting for the door to open and turns her head to find a guard watching her closely.

She glares at the man until he looks away when the door opens and Nanny starts to speak without waiting for the door to fully open, "I have told you boys…" she stops when she spies Romelle, "Princess Romelle…I am so sorry, I thought you were one of _those_ boys again."

Pushing away a retort to that comment, Romelle walks past Nanny as she says, "I'm here to see Allura." The governess makes a sputtering sound as the Princess of Pollux moves over to the bed.

Sitting down next to the curled up body of Princess Allura, Romelle reaches out with her hand and gently brushes Allura's hair off her face as she whispers her name.

A pair of despondent, puffy, blue eyes open and tears slide down her nose as she whimpers, "They took him away…" Romelle wipes the tears away as she whispers, "I know…but you have to get up Allura."

Allura shakes her head and curls back into a ball on the bed. Romelle sighs as she lies down beside her and holds her crying cousin close to her. Nanny wipes the tears off her face as she watches the two young women before walking around to the chair beside the bed and sitting down in it.

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Later that night, Nanny walks in carrying a tray with enough dinner for the two women. Romelle walks away from the bed and lifts up a cover off the tray. As she examines the contents of the dish, Nanny nervously rubs her hands together then glances at the bed and the figure lying in it before whispering to Romelle, "How is she?"

Setting the lid aside, Romelle picks up a bowl with some pasta and sauce. Using a fork, she takes a bite from it and chews slowly while her eyes move back over to the sleeping figure on the bed. After she swallows, Romelle turns back to the governess to answer, "Horribly sad." She pauses a moment and sets the bowl back down before turning to Nanny again, "It is like he died Nanny, that is how she feels."

Nanny sighs as she goes to sit by the bed again, "My poor baby…she has lost so much."

Romelle's jaw tightens in anger as she stands in front of the older woman, "So why did you tell Coran about them then?"

A distraught look enters Nanny's eyes before she turns away from Romelle, "I didn't know…the only thing Coran had told me was if I noticed Princess not in her room that night I was to let him know." She shifts her gaze back to Romelle, "I didn't know about her relationship with the commander until Coran dragged me with him down the hall and we found them together."

Crossing her arms, Romelle taps her toes, "And if you had known?"

Nanny stares up into Romelle's face for a moment before looking away. She watches Allura sleeping in the bed for several moments before saying, "I didn't know she loved him…with all that she has lost…I don't know what I would have done."

Slowly standing up, Nanny starts walking toward the door; however, Romelle's voice stops her, "Can you please tell Sven I'm going to spend the night here?" Nanny nods to her and walks out of the room.

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Sitting in his office working late, Coran looks up from the document he is reading to rub at his tired eyes. Glancing at the clock, he grimaces at the lateness of the hour then looks back down at the document. He looks back up a moment later when the door to his office opens and Sven walks in uninvited.

Sven pauses near the desk then gestures to the chair in front, "May I?"

Nodding, Coran asks, "What can I do for you Commander Holgersson?"

Sitting down, the Norwegian crosses his arms as he demands, "Why did you have Keith sent away?"

The advisor glares at the younger man across from him as he states, "He broke the law…"

"A bullshit law…" Sven interrupts then leans forward to add, "You of all people know what Keith has done for this planet…what he has risked to stop Lotor and Doom. You had no right…"

"I had every right!" Coran's voice rises as he stands up, "Don't you dare patronize me by telling me how to perform my duties to the crown! Keith is not royalty, he had no right to touch…"

Sven rises slowly as well, his anger rising as he quietly states, "I'm not royalty, yet Romelle is my wife and still Princess of Pollux."

"This is not Pollux." Coran snarls back. His body shakes with his anger, "Do not think this is something I'm enjoying. The royal house of Arus must continue…"

"At what cost Coran?"

Taken aback, the older man falls silent as Sven sighs deeply, runs his hand through his hair then states, "Do you honestly think Allura will forget about Keith? What are you going to do if she chooses to never marry? What will happen to your royal house of Arus then?"

Turning away from the advisor, Sven walks over to the door. He glances back then walks out of the room. Coran falls back down into his chair, weariness coursing through him as the bleak picture Sven painted moves through his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to those that review and tell me your thoughts. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Many thanks once again to my editors...couldn't do it without you ladies!

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 9:

Sven sits in the captain's chair of Black lion the next morning with the new commander. Pausing in his dissertation on the controls of the lion, he looks the other man over. Taller than Keith, with a broad chest, slim hips and an attitude that even got on Sven nerves, Commander Waverly had arrived that morning, just before breakfast.

After meeting the team, he had asked to see the lion immediately. Coran had sighed and asked Sven to do the honors, but the Norwegian wasn't just letting the man take the lion for a ride. Gritting his teeth, Sven had said, "He won't fly it until he has had some instruction." and had then spent the last hour in the lion with the man, going through the controls.

Trying not to smile as Commander Waverly gets more and more agitated with the continuing instruction, Sven stops, "Those are the basics, however there is so much more you need to know before going into combat against Planet Doom in this lion."

Commander Waverly waves his arm dismissively, "The best way to learn is to experience it Holgersson, now let me in the seat."

Gritting his teeth together to contain his irritation, Sven slowly stands up and moves to the side. Commander Waverly eagerly sits down as his mind races, '_For years now I have heard about these lions and the men that pilot them.'_ Waverly barely stops himself from laughing, '_Maybe I should send a note of thanks to Kogane…'_ He places the key into the lion then waits for the power to start up. When nothing occurs, Waverly turns to face Sven, "Did I miss a step?"

A confused look crosses Sven's face. He gestures to Waverly to get out of the seat, "Excuse me for a moment Commander."

Waverly stands up and Sven sits back down in the captain's chair. Removing the key, Sven examines it closely and manually changes it to the key it becomes before putting it back. Reaching forward, Sven puts the key back into the system and shakes his head when nothing happens.

Removing his comm. unit, Sven calls into the castle, "Control, come in please."

Coran's voice fills the air, "This is control."

Sven tries placing the key once more before continuing, "Has anyone flown Black lion since Keith's departure?"

He hears voices in the background before Coran speaks again, "No, I just confirmed it with the others. Why?"

A feeling of dread spreads through Sven as he radios back in, "We can't get the lion to power on. Nothing happens when we insert the key."

Sven hears a deep sigh and voices in the background again before Coran responds, "You might as well come back in for now, Hunk and Pidge will take a look at the lion and find out what is wrong."

Waverly lets out a snort of disgust, "I thought these machines were well taken care of?"

Turning in the chair to glare at the man, Sven states, "They are."

After snorting again, Waverly crosses his arms, "Considering we can't even start the thing, I would have to disagree."

Taking a deep breath while trying to control his temper, Sven suggests, "Let's head back to control."

The other man shakes his head, "No, I need to learn how to operate the lions…one should be just as good as another. Let's try a different lion."

Withholding the answer he wants to give the arrogant bastard, Sven tightly replies, "Very well, I have the key to Blue lion on me as well.

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Sven stands behind Waverly in Blue lion as the man gets comfortable in the captain's chair. The commander holds out his hand to Sven expectantly and the Norwegian reluctantly places the key to the lion in his hand. Waverly sits forward and places the key in the slot then yells when nothing happens, "What the hell is going on here? Two lions not working?"

Waverly stands and throws the key back at Sven, his face red with his anger, "I demand an explanation for this!"

Eyebrows knitted together, Sven moves around the angry man to sit in the chair, placing the key in the slot. As the lion stands then roars, Waverly yells even louder, "What is this? Some kind of sick joke?"

Sven stands up and is pushed aside by Waverly as he sits back down in the captain's chair. The minute his hands touch the controls, the lion goes back to its resting place and the power turns back off. Waverly bellows his rage as he stands back up, "I demand an explanation for this!"

Holding up his hand to stop the man's continued bellowing, Sven takes out his comm. unit, "Control, come in please."

Coran's voice once again fills the air, "This is control."

Taking a deep breath first, Sven looks at the disgruntled commander before him then speaks, "Coran, why would power in the lion turn off when the commander takes the chair?"

Once again voices fill the background, but this time Coran doesn't wait for them to quiet down before he speaks, "Do you mean the lion wouldn't work at all or just shut down when the commander touched the controls."

Unable to fathom what is going on, Sven answers, "It worked when I put the key in, but the minute I stood up and the commander sat down, the lion powered off."

Sven is shocked when he hears Coran reply, "Oh dear…that isn't good, it isn't good at all. You better come back to control."

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As Sven and Waverly enter the control room moments later, the commander walks up to the dais yelling, "What is the meaning of this? Some kind of initiation joke? I am not amused."

Coran holds up his hand to stop the man's speech, "Commander…this is not a joke I can assure you." He glances back at Lance, Pidge and Hunk who are looking at the advisor curiously before turning back, "These lions are machines yes, but magic was mixed in as well."

He sits back down at the controls and starts pressing buttons, Black lion appears on the screen and he turns back around, "There have been stories told of the lions not responding to certain people…" He pauses a moment, "People the lions consider unworthy of flying them."

Waverly crosses his arms and snorts, "What utter rubbish, they are machines with moving parts, no more."

Coran raises an eyebrow at him, "Perhaps that attitude is why you failed."

Uncrossing his arms, Waverly stands over Coran as he bellows, "I don't believe it!" He turns to Lance, "You! Take me out to your lion, first, you will fly it to prove the machine works then I will."

Lance arches an eyebrow at him, "While it is news to me that the lions won't fly for certain people…I don't think it will work _Commander_." As the man puffs up to explode again, Lance nods his head, "Very well…if only to show you to respect these, "machines" as you called them."

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An hour later, Lance, Hunk and Pidge walk back into castle control to find Coran and Sven waiting for them. After failing in Red lion, Commander Waverly had insisted on trying the other two lions as well. While they had worked for the Force, the minute the commander would touch the controls, the lions would power down.

Coran looks around them then asks, "Where is Commander Waverly?"

Snorting with laughter, Lance replies, "Packing his bags would be my bet. He can't fly the lions, so there is no point in him being here."

Sven shakes his head as Hunk and Pidge join in Lance's laughter. Coran lets out a sigh as Sven turns back to him, "Well, I can understand why none of the lions allowed the commander in, but why wouldn't Black lion respond to me Coran? I've flown him before when Keith was injured."

The advisor shakes his head, "I do not know." He turns to Hunk and Pidge, "Please go run diagnostics on Black lion and determine what the problem is."

Both men nod and turn around, leaving the room. Lance smiles at Sven as he says, "I think I'm going to go help." and leaves the room with them.

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Two hours later, the three men return to castle control disgruntled. Coran watches them as they approach the dais and asks, "Status?"

Hunk looks away disgusted as Pidge responds, "As far as we can tell, there is nothing wrong with Black lion." Pidge glances at Sven before looking back at Coran and continuing, "But none of us could get the lion to respond." Hunk breaks in, "And both Pidge and I have flown Black before as well, while testing systems."

Sven turns to Coran, "We could be in serious trouble if Lotor attacks and we can't get that lion off the ground."

A female voice across the room has all the men turning to the door, "I want to try." Allura slowly walks into the room, followed by Romelle. Coran studies her, taking in her pale appearance and slightly puffy eyes before shaking his head, "I doubt it will work…"

Lance interrupts him, "What can it _hurt_ to try?" He makes a hand signal to the advisor as he says it. Allura was finally showing signs of life and Lance wanted to keep her motivated through this ordeal.

Taking the hint, Coran finally nods, "Very well."

Allura finishes entering the room and holds out her hand expectantly. Lance hands her the key and she disappears down the tube for Black lion.

The men watch the screen open mouthed as minutes later, Black lion takes off into the air. Sven turns to Coran and asks, "How?"

The advisor shakes his head as Pidge speaks, "I think it is because she was closest to Keith."

Lance arches his brows as Coran glares at Pidge and asks, "But why won't it let any of the rest of us fly him?"

Hunk speaks up next, "Well if what Coran says about the lions having magic is true…I'm guessing Black lion isn't too happy with Keith being sent away. Not letting us fly him is his way of telling us he is unhappy."

Princess Romelle steps next to Sven, who wraps an arm around her waist, and says, "I'm just glad she got out of bed…"

The smile that was on Lance's face drops as he asks, "How is she?"

Taking a deep breath, Romelle glares at Coran until he looks away before replying, "Still horribly sad, but I convinced her that she needed to keep moving...I used Keith against her."

Anger rising within him, Lance glares at her as Sven asks, "How?"

Laying her head against Sven's shoulder, Romelle says, "That he wouldn't want her to fall apart and not do her job as princess and a member of the Force." She pauses a moment, "It took a while, but I finally got through to her."

The others look away and back to the monitors to watch Black lion continue his flight around the Arus landscape.

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Allura wipes away the tears running down her face as she flies Black lion out to Keith's favorite spot. He had told her about it months ago while holding her after they had made love:

"_It is several miles away from the castle, on a cliff near the mountains. From there it is like I can view all of Arus and the Castle of Lions, to me…it is like heaven."_

Landing Black lion on the cliff, Allura turns the giant cat back toward the edge. As she takes in the view Keith had called heaven, she continues to cry until she can't see anymore. A sudden shudder of the lion makes Allura sit upright and wipe her eyes as she looks over the controls. Suddenly the lion lets out a tremendous roar, unlike anything Allura has heard out of the lions before.

Reaching out to touch the dash, she whispers, "You miss him too, don't you Black?"

A smell fills the cabin that almost makes Allura choke on her tears again, the smell of Keith's cologne engulfs her and suddenly a warmth fills the cabin. Allura leans forward to lay her head down on the console as she cries, "Keith…"

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One week later on the Garrison outpost on the moon of Titan, Keith steps down off a transport in the landing hanger to find his new commander in front of him. Commander Lietner is a shorter man than Keith and the irritated look on his face tells him that Lietner doesn't like having to look up at him.

Looking Keith up and down, Lietner thinks, '_Bastard hasn't changed much since the Academy…still has to be the fittest man around.'_ Sucking in his own sagging waistline for a moment, the commander clears his throat and then orders, "Follow me Kogane."

Keith follows him down several hallways until they come to a door. Lietner punches in a code and enters the room as Keith follows. Glancing around, he notes they are in the commander's office as the man walks around his desk and stands in front of it. He points to the chair in front and says disdainfully, "Sit down Kogane."

Withholding a sigh, Keith sets his bag down then sits down in the chair as Lietner continues to stand and stare down at him for several moments. Ignoring his intimidation tactics, Keith sits quietly and stares straight ahead, not bothering to meet the other man's eyes.

When Lietner's irritation gets the better of him, he finally speaks, "Well…_Lieutenant_ Kogane…never thought you would do something dumb enough to get demoted and yanked out of that plum position you had on Arus."

Keith doesn't reply to the sarcasm, he continues to sit there, staring straight ahead. Lietner finally continues when it becomes obvious that Keith isn't going to react, "You will be given your orders by my first lieutenant and I expect you to follow them fully and without complaint. Any problems from you and I will make sure you wish you had never left Arus. Do you understand me?"

Finally raising his eyes to meet the commander's, Keith quietly responds, "Yes sir."

A triumphant light enters Lietner's eyes as he hits a button. Soon a younger man dressed in a Garrison uniform walks into the room, "Yes sir?"

Commander Lietner looks away from Keith to the young man, "Lieutenant Williams, please take _Lieutenant_ Kogane to his room and assign him his duties. Kogane is to have no access to communication equipment. Dismissed."

Williams nods then turns to Keith, gesturing him to follow. Williams waits until the door is closed before turning to Keith to say, "Don't take it personally Lieutenant Kogane…Commander Lietner is a jerk to everyone. Let's go and I'll get you settled in."

Keith nods and follows the man down the hallway.

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Williams leads Keith down several hallways and tries to engage him in conversation along the way, but only receives short answers in return. Stifling his impatience, Williams stops before a door, "This is your room Lieutenant. You are bunking with Lieutenant Johnson."

He glances at Keith again before saying quietly, "Sorry, we don't have enough space for private rooms."

Keith finally looks the man in the face and quietly responds, "It's all right…"

Nodding with understanding, Williams pushes the button to open the door and watches as Lieutenant Johnson stands at attention. Smiling at him, Williams states, "At ease Lieutenant. I've brought you a new roommate…" He gestures to Keith, who sets his bag down on the floor beside him, as Williams adds, "Lieutenant Michael Johnson, please meet Lieutenant Keith Kogane."

Keith holds out his hand and shakes with Lieutenant Johnson as the man's eyes go wide with recognition. Johnson asks, "As in the Kogane from Arus?"

Johnson watches as Keith's face becomes stiff and he barely nods before turning away and glancing at the obviously empty bunk. He picks up his bag and places it there, dismissing both men in the room from his mind as he opens it and starts removing items.

Clearing his throat, William states, "I'll be back for you in about an hour Kogane. We will go through your duties then."

He watches as Keith nods, his back still to them, then Williams gestures to Johnson to follow him out of the room. Once the door shuts, Williams quickly states, "The commander does not know about this and is not to know, but Admiral Graham asked that we keep an eye on Kogane for him. I didn't get details, but the Admiral's assistant stated he is worried about Kogane's state of mind with the transfer and demotion."

Williams takes a deep breath before continuing, "Normally, a doctor would keep tabs on him, but Commander Lietner would eventually find out if that occurred. Keep an eye on him and report to me if you notice anything out of the ordinary."

Johnson nods then watches as Williams turns and walks away. Taking a deep breath, he turns around and reenters the room to find Keith looking around with clothes in his hands. He points, "Closet to the left is yours as well as the dresser set."

Keith nods his thanks and starts putting his things away as Johnson studies him for a moment. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he asks, "So what was it like?"

Turning away from putting his clothes in a drawer, Keith raises an eyebrow at him as he quietly asks, "What?"

Johnson flushes but replies, "Flying those lions!" He takes a step closer to Keith as he continues, "We've all heard about them…but to see one up close or to fly it…well, that is stuff I can only dream about!"

Keith takes a deep breath as he turns away. After a few moments of silence, Johnson begins to think he isn't going to answer when he hears Keith's quiet reply, "Heaven."


	10. Chapter 10

We are at the half-way point…enjoy.

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 10:

Two weeks later, Admiral Graham listens, highly annoyed, to the commander describe the conditions at the base. It's not long before the admiral clears his throat to stop the constant droning, "Commander, I don't have much time and need a status update on Lieutenant Kogane."

Stifling his impatience at the admiral's request, Lietner answers, "Lieutenant Kogane is fine Admiral. In the two weeks that he has been here, he has performed his job adequately and has caused no trouble."

The older man's steely gaze rests on the commander for a moment before he replies, "I was asking about his mental status."

Returning the gaze, the commander thinks, '_He's worried about his little pet…too bad Kogane couldn't keep it in his pants.'_ Keeping his voice carefully neutral, Lietner responds, "To my knowledge Admiral…the lieutenant is fine."

Admiral Graham continues to study the younger man in front of him, his own thoughts racing, '_The moron can't get past his jealousy of Kogane…'_ Clearing his throat, Graham continues, "I would like to speak to the lieutenant's roommate in private Commander."

Beginning to question, "Why…" Leitner stops when he notices the look on the admiral's face before responding, "Very well, I will have him sent to you at once."

Admiral Graham nods to the commander then walks away.

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Admiral Graham sits working at the desk of his temporary study at the base when there is a knock at the door. Lifting his head, he responds, "Enter." and waits as the young man walks nervously into the room to stop before the desk to salute him. He keeps his eyes on the top of the admiral's head as he loudly says, "Lieutenant Johnson sir!"

Managing to withhold a smile at the younger man's enthusiasm, Graham responds, "At ease Lieutenant. Have a seat."

Lieutenant Johnson sits down and looks at the admiral expectantly. Graham observes the man for a moment before asking, "I need to know how Lieutenant Kogane is doing, both physically and mentally, and the commander doesn't seem to be very forthcoming with the information. So as Kogane's roommate you should be able to tell me what kind of condition he is in."

Looking down at the surface of the desk for a moment in contemplation, Johnson finally raises his eyes once more to the admiral, "Permission to speak freely sir."

Graham nods as he replies, "Granted."

Nodding, Johnson clears his throat before responding, "I didn't know Kogane before he came here, but from what I heard, he is an amazing person, very kind to the men around him and has a brilliant mind for strategy."

Sighing quietly, the admiral is beginning to get frustrated until Johnson continues, "Since he has been here, he has been quiet and unresponsive for the most part. He doesn't speak unless spoken to, barely eats or sleeps and when he does sleep, he often says her name. In meetings, he doesn't offer anything unless the commander asks him directly, which isn't often since it is quite obvious that the commander dislikes the lieutenant."

The last statement has Graham fighting to keep a smile off his face, "Well, they were rivals during their academy years…" He clears his throat before continuing, "Thank you for the information Lieutenant. Please do not tell the commander what you have told me."

Johnson nods before asking, "May I be dismissed?"

After waving a hand at him in dismissal, the admiral stops him before he can open the door, "Where can I find Kogane right now?"

Turning back to Graham, the lieutenant replies, "Our room sir. He does not participate in the afternoon breaks we are given to converse with each other."

Graham is silent for a moment then says, "Dismissed."

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Sitting at his desk, Keith reads through a report he had just written when he hears a knock at the door. He turns in his chair as he calls out, "Enter." When Admiral Graham walks in, he quickly stands and salutes him, "Sir."

The admiral smiles at him, "At ease Lieutenant." He gestures to the chair, "Have a seat."

Keith reluctantly sits down as he looks at the admiral. Graham studies him for a moment, noting the slightly gaunt look to his face and the looseness of his uniform from obvious weight loss before asking, "How are you doing?"

Silence fills the room for several moments before Keith quietly answers, "I'm fine."

Graham continues to study him for a moment before he responds, "Like hell you are."

As the lieutenant looks away, Graham moves over to take the seat at the other desk in the room, "Why did you do it Kogane? I had no choice but to demote and transfer you when the Arus ruling council lodged their complaint."

When Keith doesn't answer him or look his way again, Admiral Graham stands back up and walks toward him, "Is she worth it _Lieutenant_? Worth your career and everything that you've worked for since you joined the Garrison?"

Finally, Keith turns back to him. The look on his face is resolute as he replies in a strong voice, "Allura is the air I breathe and the colors of my world, without her everything is gray, and I'm suffocating." He stands up, "She is worth everything to me sir, even my life."

Admiral Graham looks sadly at the man he has long considered his protégé and at some point, his successor, "I'm sorry son, truly I am. For both of you." He closes the distance between them and touches Keith's shoulder, "There is nothing I can do to resolve this. You have to let her go and move on."

Looking away from him, the lieutenant replies, "I can't." He sits back down on his chair, "I love her Admiral."

Shaking his head, Admiral Graham starts for the door but turns back around when Keith asks, "May I ask sir, how the team is?"

Silence fills the air for a moment before the admiral responds, "They are fine…pissed off at me of course, but Sven flew in to take your place until a permanent commander is found."

Keith nods then hesitantly asks, "And…Allura?"

Graham narrows his eyes a little, "Pressing your luck a little…aren't you, _Lieutenant_?"

Standing back up, his pleading eyes with the admiral, Keith quietly asks, "Please..."

A deep sigh leaves the admiral as he rubs his neck to relieve the tension before finally answering, "I don't know. Last I spoke to McClain three weeks ago, he hadn't seen her and wasn't being allowed near her." with that he opens the door and leaves.

Keith sits back down in his chair, opens a drawer and pulls out a picture of the team taken not too long ago. As his eyes travel over the figure in pink standing next to him, he fights back the tears that he had hoped were buried deep within him.

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Returning to his office after seeing Kogane, Admiral Graham finds a file waiting for him. Opening it, he quickly reads through it and immediately starts swearing. Turning to his video comm. he presses several buttons until the comm. connects with Arus.

As Coran's face becomes visible on the screen, he grimly greets the angry man in front of him, "Admiral…what can I do for you?"

Trying to rein in his temper, Graham begins, "Nine commanders Coran…I've sent you nine different commanders and not one of them can fly any of those damned lions?"

Coran lets out a deep sigh as his mind goes over the last three weeks, each time a commander would arrive, Sven would immediately take them out into Black lion. When the lion would once again fail to respond for them, they would continue through each of the lions unsuccessfully. Half an hour later, the frustrated commander was swearing as he grabbed his bag to head back to his shuttle while Lance waved at him with a sarcastic smile on his face.

Turning his attention back to the irate man before him, the Arusian advisor responds, "I don't know what to tell you Admiral…as I've explained to each of these commanders, the lions are a mix of magic and machine...they have a soul. If they sense an unworthy person, they will not operate for them."

Admiral Graham nods his understanding, having heard it after the first commander had been sent back, before asking, "What about Black lion?"

Shaking his head, Coran responds, "Still the same, the only one that lion will respond to is Princess Allura."

Letting out a deep sigh, Admiral Graham asks, "Is the Arusian Council aware of this problem with replacing Commander Kogane?"

Coran nods, "Yes…they are aware of the lions' behavior towards any replacement pilots."

Letting out his own growl when the advisor says nothing else, Graham asks, "And?"

"Well…" Coran starts, then clears his throat before continuing, "I'm not sure what you are looking for Admiral Graham…have they decided to allow Commander Kogane back? The answer is no." He watches the admiral's face turn red with anger before he continues, "They feel that eventually the…ah…"right" pilot will be accepted by the lions."

Admiral Graham explodes, "The right pilot? I don't have many more damn pilots to send you unless I start pulling snot nosed freshmen from the Academy…all my other "experienced" commanders have positions they are needed in and I will not pull them from them just to suit your council!"

The old advisor lets out a deep sigh, "I know Admiral…please…just send us the remaining possibilities and if they do not work out I will approach the council again."

Snorting, Admiral Graham responds, "Very well…" Taking a deep breath, he inquires, "How is the princess doing?"

The older man notices a look that passes through Coran's eyes before he responds, "She is fine Admiral."

Shaking his head, Admiral Graham responds, "You are lying Coran…I'm willing to bet she is doing about as well as _Lieutenant _Kogane.

Coran is silent for a moment, his eyes full of suppressed emotion, before he quietly asks, "And how is he?"

Letting out a sigh, Graham says, "Depressed…barely eats, sleeps or speaks to the people around him." He sits closer to the monitor as he adds, "I have the shell of the man he was walking around here, and barely existing as he mourns what he lost…the people he considered his friends and family."

Looking away from the monitor for a moment, Coran digests the news. A moment later he turns back to Admiral Graham, "Princess Allura is much the same I'm afraid. While she has the rest of the Force members around her...she keeps to her room when she isn't in Black lion. Trying to get her to perform her others duties has been beyond difficult to say the least. Thankfully, Princess Romelle has filled in for her on a few occasions."

Clearing his throat, the admiral says, "Thanks for the information…" Rubbing his face tiredly, he adds, "I'll see who I have left to send to replace Kogane…but this will be the last of my people…after that you and your council will be on your own."

Coran nods, "Very well…I understand and thank you on behalf of the council and the prince…"

Admiral Graham cuts him off, "To hell with your council Coran…if it wouldn't do more damage, I would have pulled my remaining men out of there and left the council to suffer Doom's wrath for this bull shit." He glares at the screen as he adds, "The only thing stopping me is the pain I would put those men through doing that."

He pauses one more moment before saying, "I want Lieutenant McClain on the video comm. with no outside interference in thirty minutes. I wish to have a word with him alone." With that statement, he turns off the monitor.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sighing as he turns around in the chair, Coran finds Lance behind him. Glaring at him, he asks, "How long were you standing there?"

Lance tilts his head sideways to look at the advisor for a moment before saying, "Only for the last bit when you told the admiral how Princess is doing…" He walks forward until he is standing in front of Coran, "I'm surprised you would give that kind of information to the admiral."

Shaking his head at him, Coran walks around Lance to leave the room stopping before the door, "Since you were listening in, you are aware the admiral wishes to speak to you alone in thirty minutes. I leave you to monitor control until then." and he leaves the room.

xxxxxxxxxx

Thirty minutes later, Admiral Graham sighs when there is a knock at his study door. He yells, "Enter…" and Keith walks in and quietly asks, "You wanted to see me sir?"

Graham stands, "Yes, I need to go meet with Commander Lietner before I depart…but am waiting for a call to come in. Please answer it and explain I will be back in five minutes."

Keith looks at the admiral confused as the older man walks past him and out the door, closing it behind him. He stands there and looks at the door for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking around the desk to sit down, mumbling, "Now I'm a secretary…"

As the monitor rings the incoming call, Keith takes a deep breath, presses the button and is shocked to see who the caller is, "Lance!"

His friend also expresses shock as he sees who is answering the call, "KEITH! How the hell?"

A small smile crosses Keith's face for a moment at seeing his friend before his mind engages and he looks at Lance confused, "What's going on?"

Lance shrugs, "I don't know…I was told Graham wanted to talk to me alone and to call at this time."

Another small smile crosses Keith's face as he realizes the admiral had set this up for him. He leans closer to the screen, "We only have a couple of minutes…Graham said to tell the caller he would be back in five minutes…"

As Lance's mouth goes wide with an "Oh!" Keith desperately asks, "How is Allura?"

He lets out a sigh, "Not good…she is depressed, cries a lot, isn't eating much..." Lance stops for a moment then asks, "How are you?"

Keith shrugs then rushes as he hears the admiral's voice outside the door, "He's coming back…tell Allura I love her and I'll find a way back…somehow!"

The door begins to open as Lance says, "Wait! Where are you?"

As the admiral walks in followed by Commander Lietner, Keith changes his tone as he says, "Tell Nanny I miss her onion rings…"

Lance has a confused look on his face for a moment before a look of understand replaces it. Admiral Graham comes around the desk and looks at the screen, "Lieutenant McClain…I didn't realize it would be you calling…" His eyes turn to Keith as he continues, "and you know you are under strict orders to have no contact with Arus or the people on it Lieutenant…"

Keith slowly stands up and leaves the admiral's desk as the commander steps forward, "I'll have him reprimanded Admiral…"

Admiral Graham holds a hand up, "I'll take care of it personally Commander, please excuse us."

With his gaze moving from the admiral to Keith, who keeps his face carefully neutral, Lietner finally walks out of the room. After the door closes behind the commander, Admiral Graham studies Keith for a moment before saying, "One word to anyone and you will get more than a reprimand _Lieutenant…_"

Keith stands perfectly still for a moment then nods. Letting out a sigh, Admiral Graham says, "Dismissed." and Keith turns around and leaves the room.

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Lance smiles slightly as the video screen goes black, "That old man is crazy like a fox…"

Standing, he leaves castle control quickly and walks down the hallway passing by Coran, who asks, "The meeting go well with the admiral?"

Nodding, Lance quickly walks away. Reaching his destination, he knocks on the door then enters when bidden to find Romelle sitting next to Allura on her bed. Allura sits up as he crosses the room and whispers, "Is it just you two?"

Romelle looks at him questioningly as Allura says, "Yes…what is it Lance?"

Sitting down beside her on the bed, Lance quietly says, "I just got off a video call with Keith…"

Allura reaches for him as she desperately asks, "How is he? Is he ok?"

Smiling, Lance takes her hand within his as he replies, "He seemed ok…I didn't get to talk to him long, just a minute or two…but he asked me to tell you he loves you and he will find a way to come back."

Tears run down Allura's face as he pulls her into a hug, "It's all right Princess."

Allura rubs her cheek against his shoulder as she quietly replies, "Thank you for that Lance…"

The door to the room opens and Nanny walks in. She pauses in shock as she takes in the scene before her then explodes, "Lieutenant!" Lance pulls away from Allura to turn toward the governess as she continues, "You know you aren't supposed to be in this room or sitting on her Highness' bed!"

Letting out a sigh, Lance turns to smile apologetically at Allura then stands, "I'm going Nanny…I'm going."

The Arusian princess watches Lance leave the room then her eyes turn to Romelle as she slowly smiles at her. Romelle tries to smile back then leans forward to whisper in Allura's ear, "I know this has you excited…but don't get your hopes too high Allura. Keith still reports to Garrison and would have to go AWOL to come back."

The smile leaves Allura's face as Romelle pulls back. A single tear escapes again and slowly goes down her cheek. Romelle leans forward and wipes it away as she adds, "Don't lose hope either…"

Allura nods before turning away to watch Nanny bustle around the room, straightening things.

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Haggar walks quickly down the hallways of Castle Doom. Upon reaching the throne room, she spies Lotor kneeling before his father yet again as King Zarkon states, "Enough Lotor…you will never take Planet Arus or its princess."

He shifts his gaze from Lotor to the witch as she approaches, "Well, old witch? What is it?"

She smiles evilly at him as she states, "I've heard from my spies on Arus…the spy isn't sure what happened, but Commander Kogane has been transferred off of the planet."

Quickly standing, Lotor exclaims, "Now is the time to attack Father!"

The Doom king shakes his head before turning his gaze back to Haggar, "Did they get that other pilot from Pollux to fill in?"

Giving a reluctant nod, the old witch pushes forward, "But we know it was always Commander Kogane that ultimately…"

Zarkon cuts her off, "NO! I have wasted enough robots, ships and robeasts on the miserable planet! As long as they can form Voltron there is no point in attacking."

Lotor steps forth, horrified, "You would pass on the perfect time to attack?"

Snorting, Zarkon replies, "Perfect? As I've just said…as long as they can form Voltron there is no point!" He turns his gaze to look between the two again before firmly stating, "You will take no men or robeasts from here, either of you." He switches his gaze back to Lotor, "Do with your private forces what you will, but you will waste no more of mine on your pathetic attempts."

He waves them off and Lotor and Haggar walk away. Infuriated, the Doom prince growls, "The fool! This the perfect time to attack…Princess Allura will be vulnerable without her commander there to protect her." He stops and turns to the old witch, "Robeast or no robeast, I will gather my forces and crush that castle once and for all! Princess Allura will be mine and then that fool will step down and name me king!"

Haggar shakes her head as she watches him continue down the hallway away from her. Her eyes flash as she states, "Both idiots…" and turns to return to her lab.


	11. Chapter 11

Well, this is a horribly busy week for my editors, both of whom have been working nights, so I'm going it alone on this chapter for now. When they have time to look it over I may make some changes then. Here's hoping you don't find very many mistakes dear reader…

Xia and Wade Wells…I know you will get to it when you can. ;) Love you girls!

Please note, with the US holiday next week and with family arriving, I may not have time to post again until after the holiday weekend.

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 11:

Two nights later, Allura tosses and turns in her bed as her nightmare continues,

_Keith stands toward the end of a dark hallway, dressed in his traditional red clothing, a sad look on face, his hand outstretched, gesturing to her as he speaks, "Come to me Allura…you must come to me."_

_Pulling up the bottom of her dress to prevent herself from tripping on it, Allura runs toward him, "Wait Keith! I'm coming!"_

_However, she never seems to get any closer to him, no matter how fast she runs, while he continues to call to her, "Allura! My love…you must come to me!" Tears run down her cheeks as she cries out…_

"KEITH!" His name rips out of her throat as she sits up in bed, her arms outstretched.

Opening her eyes fully, Allura realizes where she is and the tears running down her cheeks from her dream continue as she curls into a ball back on the mattress, crying for her love.

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The male members of the Force stands behind Coran in the control room the next morning. They are discussing the latest commander, who had arrived and promptly left one hour later after failing in all of the lions. Lance glares at the advisor, "So what the hell are we going to do Coran?"

As the older man sits there silently looking at the monitors in front of him, Lance growls, "Sven can't stay here forever damn it! We either need a new pilot the lions will accept or we need Keith back!"

Coran quickly turns around in the chair, but before he can answer, Allura walks into the room with Romelle beside her. Romelle is whispering quickly to Allura as they near the dais until Allura stops her with a look then turning back to her advisor, "I have an order for you Coran."

Standing up and stepping around the men so that he faces her, he replies, "Yes, your Highness?"

Her chin quivering slightly, Allura's eyes suddenly become like blue steel, "I want Keith brought back here now. You will call Admiral Graham's office and demand that he is transferred back to Arus and you will do it now."

Coran shakes his head, "You know I can't do that Princess. The council will not allow his return."

A furious look enters Allura's eyes as she reaches up and removes her royal circlet from her head. Throwing it down before the advisor's feet, she states, "Very well…then I am no longer Princess of Arus."

All the men in the room yell, "NO!" as she stares at them.

Coran recovers quickly and steps down from the dais as he grabs both of her arms, "You can't do this!"

She pulls away from him, "I have given up everything for this planet…I've protected it with my life. The one thing I will not give up is Keith. If the council will not allow us to be together, very well, they can try to take care of this planet without me. The kingdom of Arus dies with me."

Lance steps around a shocked Coran as he quietly asks, "Where are you going to go Allura?"

Her eyes move from Coran's pale face to his as she replies, "I'm on the next transport to Earth. As a citizen, I am allowed to leave Arus anytime I wish. As a citizen with no political standing, Galaxy Garrison will have no right to keep Keith from me." A determined look enters her eyes, "I will go to him, marry him and we will live our lives together, away from this place."

Allura turns her gaze back to her old advisor, "I will gather my things and be on my way. Please tender my resignation to the council for me."

As she turns to leave, the alarms go off and the group turns back to the monitors as Coran quickly sits down in the command chair and starts pressing buttons. The monitor lights up and Lotor's command ship comes into view as fighters leave the ship and begin firing upon the castle.

He turns to Lance, "Lotor's attacking! To the lions!"

The men move away from the dais as Coran presses a button to raise it; however, they make no move to run to their chutes. They turn as one to the princess and Lance states quietly, "We need you Allura…we can't form Voltron without you."

Allura looks between the grim faced men then up to the monitors and watches horrified as Lotor's forces continue to destroy the village near the castle as well as attacking the castle itself. Tears of frustration and misery run down her face before she states, "Very well…let's go!"

She leads the way to the chutes and grabs the T-bar for Black lion. After they have gone, Coran lowers the dais and Romelle steps up beside him, "I hope they will be all right."

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Lotor laughs sadistically as he watches his fighters destroy the houses in the village next to the castle, "This should draw them out…"

A deep feeling of satisfaction fills him as he watches the five lions come flying at his forces, "So either they replaced Kogane or that other explorer took his position…no matter." He turns to his lieutenant, "Concentrate all firepower on Black lion! Bring it down!"

The droid turns to Lotor and states, "Yes sire…" before turning around to give out the orders.

Lotor sits back in his chair to watch before speaking to himself, "Once that lion is down…Blue lion and Princess Allura will be easy to capture."

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Inside of Black lion, Allura watches as the fighters move away from the village and castle, heading for the lions instead. She listens to Sven call out, "Attack the ships…" and calls out, "Ion Knife!" As the blade forms between the teeth of the lion, the princess flies at the ships in front of her, taking them out one at a time as she watches the other lions cut through them as well.

A sudden jolt from the side has Allura turning to watch as several ships fly straight at her. She listens to Lance call out, "ALLURA! LOOK OUT!" but is unable to move fast enough and screams as several missiles hit Black lion. Pulling hard on the controls, she pulls Black lion out of the dive he was in then heads back into the air as Sven calls out, "Protect Black lion!"

Turning her head, she watches a squad of fighters come at her again. She turns Black toward them and calls out, "Proton missiles…fire!" as they fire at her as well. She feels a small amount of satisfaction as she watches the front fighters blow up then screams as the back fighters fire missiles at her.

She tries to turn Black away, but the missiles are too fast and detonate against the head of the lion. Allura screams as a flash fire starts from the panel to her right. Pain unlike anything she has ever felt before consumes her and she blacks out as the CO ² foam falls on her from above.

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Lotor laughs triumphantly as he watches the smoke billowing from Black lion as it falls to the ground. "Finally! I am rid of that damned lion and now…on to my prize…Princess Allura!"

He turns to his communication drone, "Contact Blue lion…I want to demand her surrender."

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Sven watches in horror as Black lion is struck in the head with missiles. Smoke hurls out of it as it falls out of the sky, toward the ground in front of the castle. He listens to Lance's scream of, "**ALLURA!**"

Horror stuck, he watches Black lion crash on the grounds in front of the castle and finally wakes up to call out, "CORAN! PRINCESS CRASHED! MED TEAMS NOW!"

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The advisor's jaw drops while he watches the monitors from castle control. Frozen in fear for the briefest moment, he comes alive again when he hears Sven's yell and hits the buttons to scramble the medical personnel.

Turning his eyes to Romelle's horrified ones, Coran shakes his head, unable to speak and watches as she turns around and runs out of control.

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Sven continues to go through fighter ships and glances down at the ground to watch the medical teams approach Black lion when his video comm. goes off. Prince Lotor appears before him, stunned to find Sven in front of him as he demands, "Where is Princess Allura? She flies Blue lion, not you!"

Rage fills Sven as he growls out, "She was in Black lion you asshole…the lion you just blew out of the air."

He watches as Lotor pales and screams out, "NO!" before the video feed goes black.

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Panicked, Lotor turns his gaze to the monitors and orders, "Abort attack! Get all those ships away from that Black lion!"

He hears, "Yes sire…" but doesn't pay attention as he watches from afar as crews move around the wrecked lion. Unable to see what is happening, tears run down Lotor's eyes as he turns to run down a hallway.

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Tears slide down Lance's face as he continues to destroy Lotor's attack ships, even though they have turned around and started to leave Arus air space. He turns Red toward the command ship and starts after it with Green and Yellow lions behind him when he hears Sven's voice, "Stop Lance!"

Turning to the video screen, he sees the same pain on Sven's face that he knows is on his as he growls out, "That bastard could have killed her!" A dry sob escapes him, "We don't even know that she isn't dead!"

The lieutenant watches as Sven wipes at his own face before saying, "We need to get down there and see what is happening Lance…we can't do that if we go after Lotor, trying to destroy him. That won't help Allura!"

Turning his face away from the video, Lance takes several deep breaths trying to calm himself down before he turns Red around. About to head toward the ground, instead he spies a single ship leaving the main command ship as it is heading out of Arus airspace. He growls out, "That bastard!" and turns the lion to head off Lotor's ship.

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The Doom prince flies his smaller ship to the area above the castle as fast as the craft can go. He watches as the crew carries a body out on a stretcher, but can't see much with all the people surrounding it. He growls, "MOVE DAMN IT!" before spotting another blond headed woman running at the stretcher.

A low sound escapes Lotor as he quietly says, "Romelle…"

Not thinking, he starts to head for the closest place to land when his ship jerks from a missile impact. Flipping several switches, he finds Red lion about ready to fire upon him again as he hits a button for his video comm. and swears at Lance, "Stop it you fool! You could injure Allura further if you bring me down on top of her!"

Lance's face turns red with rage as he growls out, "She wouldn't be injured at all if it wasn't for you, you asshole! Get the fuck out of here!"

Lotor flips the ship as two more missiles are fired at him. Swearing in defeat, he turns his craft toward outer space.

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Fighting the urge to go after him, Lance waits until he sees the ship leave then turns to head toward the ground. He watches as the other three lions make their way to the ground then lands beside them. All of the men run out to find the palace guards in front of the wreckage of Black lion.

Lance looks at the lion briefly before turning to the guard in front of him, "Where is Princess? How is she?"

The guard shakes his head as he replies, "I don't know her current status Lieutenant McClain. She was alive when they pulled her from the lion…however…" Lance watches as the man takes several breaths and tears start to run down his face before he replies, "There was a fire in the lion…Princess Allura was burned."


	12. Chapter 12

The editors are back! Thank God! Enjoy!

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 12:

The four men walk into MedTech's waiting room moments later to find Romelle, Coran and Nanny sitting together in the chairs. Romelle lifts her tear stained face when the door opens and spotting Sven, she leaves her chair to run into his arms crying, "Oh God Sven…she was burned."

Sven holds her tight to him, murmuring comforting words as Lance goes to take her seat beside Coran asking, "How bad?"

Shaking his head, Coran is unable to speak as he chokes back his own tears. Next to him, Nanny is weeping piteously into a handkerchief in her hands. Lance looks over as Hunk and Pidge quietly sit down next to him. His gaze shifts to Sven who grimaces as he pulls Romelle over to a chair and sits down with her upon his lap.

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Three hours later, a grim Dr. Gorma walks out into the room, holding up his arms to stop the flow of questions being thrown at him. He pulls out a chair from the side and places it in front of the others before tiredly sitting down on it. Taking off his glasses, he wipes them on the corner of his coat. Lance loses his temper and snaps, "DR. GORMA!" As the doctor looks over at them, Lance continues, "What is going on?"

Dr. Gorma sighs as he places the glasses back onto his face before replying, "Princess Allura has second and third degree burns along her right arm, chest, neck and her right cheek. Thankfully her helmet protected the rest of her head and eyes." After waiting for the shock to set in for a moment, he continues, "I'm going to be blunt. I consulted with the doctors on planet Olion prior to treating her. Following their instruction, I've put Princess into a drug induced coma for now." He pauses a moment to clear his throat before continuing, "Because she breathed in some of the super-heated air, her throat is also burned and was beginning to swell closed. Therefore, I have put a tube down her throat. As I said, I was following their instructions, which included cutting away some of the burned flesh to prevent infection. One of their best doctors and his team will be coming in a day or two to take over her care and treatment."

As the stunned silence continues, Dr. Gorma stands, "I've moved her into the CCU unit, you may see her though the glass observation window. For now, I would like to limit her visitors as a precaution against infection."

He turns to walk away, then stops and turns back to the group, "Her frame of mind is going to be critical to her recovery." He looks at Coran specifically as he adds, "She needs to believe she will recover and _want_ to recover." arching an eyebrow at him before turning around and leaving the waiting room.

Lance stands up and starts down the hall, stopping before the observation window to look in. He glances behind him to find the others had risen as well to follow him. Turning back, Lance stares through the observation window as the nurses in the room move around a heavily bandaged and sedated Allura. His eyes stay on the tube going down her throat to keep her breathing as her own burned throat heals and he takes a deep shuddering breath before turning to Coran, "We need Keith here now…"

At the look on Coran's face, Lance corrects himself, "Princess needs Keith here now…you heard what the doctor said. Half of her recovery is going to be her mental state…which right now is in the toilet. Without Keith here…I'm afraid…"

Coran drops his head as Lance stops. A moment passes before he looks up and speaks quietly, "Very well, I'll contact Admiral Graham's office and request his return."

Lance shakes his head, "That isn't fast enough Coran, we need Keith here now!" He pauses a moment and looks around at the rest of the group before adding, "I'm going to take Red and go get him." He starts for the door but stops when he hears Sven's voice, "We don't know where he is stationed Lance. How the hell are you just going to go get him?"

Turning back, Lance replies, "When I spoke to Keith for a minute or two, he gave me a hint. He said to tell Nanny he missed her onion rings…"

Looking confused, Hunk states, "Nanny has never made onion rings."

Sven smiles at him before turning to Lance, "He meant rings as in around a planet…he's on the Garrison base on Saturn's moon, Titan."

Lance nods, "With Red I can get there and back in a matter of hours." and he turns around and walks out of the room.

Clearing his throat to gain attention, Coran gets the rest of the men turn back to him. He studies them for a moment before saying, "I will go put that call in anyway…hopefully Lance will get into less trouble that way." Sven raises an eyebrow at him as the advisor walks past them and out of the room.

xxxxxxxxxx

Coran sighs impatiently as he waits for the video comm. to connect. Soon a young man appears on the screen to say, "Good morning, Admiral Graham's office."

Clearing his throat as he remembers the time difference between Arus and Earth, Coran starts, "I need to speak to the admiral immediately…we have an emergency situation here on Arus."

The young man nods and says, "One moment…" then disappears from the screen.

Tapping his foot, Coran sits impatiently waiting for several minutes until the man appears again, "Unfortunately the admiral is unavailable for now…he is in a meeting this morning that I can't interrupt with the joint chiefs."

Withholding an irritated groan, Coran asks, "How long?"

The man shakes his head, "I don't know how long the meeting will last. I will inform the admiral of the situation as soon as the meeting adjourns."

Swearing under his breath, Coran replies, "Very well…but make sure he contacts me the minute he is available."

The man nods and the screen goes black as Coran lets out a sigh, "Hopefully he will call me back before Lance gets to that base…"

xxxxxxxxxx

Six hours later, Lance sighs as he spots Saturn in front of him, "About damn time…"

He flies Red around the planet and heads for the largest moon. A grim smile comes to his face as his comm. unit flashes a message and an official sounding voice says, "You are approaching Galaxy Garrison airspace…please state your intentions or risk being attacked."

Lance hits the buttons to respond, "Lieutenant McClain, requesting permission to land."

Silence fills the air for several minutes before he hears a response, "Permission granted…land in Bay 5."

Letting out a relieved breath, Lance murmurs, "Well, phase one completed…" and turns Red to the bay designated.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sitting tapping his fingers along the control unit while containing a yawn, Coran continues to wait for the admiral to return his call. He looks at his watch again and grimaces at the lateness of the hour, "Lance should be close to that base by now…"

Turning back to the controls, he presses several buttons and the young man from before appears before him again, "Admiral Graham's office."

The Arusian advisor fairly growls at the monitor, "Young man…I do believe I told you this was an emergency…I need to speak to Admiral Graham now."

The man lets out a deep sigh of frustration then states, "One moment please…"

Coran hits his hand against the controls as Sven walks into the room, "Any luck Coran?"

Turning around in his chair, the advisor growls, "Not yet…damned bureaucracy!" Sven raises his eyebrows at him as the older man turns back around in his chair when the assistant returns to the screen, "Admiral Graham is aware of your call sir. He asked me to tell you he will return your call in thirty minutes."

Coran stands up before the monitor, "You have better tell Admiral Graham that is he is about to have a serious situation on one of his bases if he doesn't call me back sooner than thirty minutes."

The man nods, "I understand and will pass on the message." then the screen goes black.

Breathing heavily, Coran turns around to face Sven, "What will Lance do if he can't get at Keith because of this awful mess?"

A grim smile crosses Sven's face before he answers, "Something that might get both of them court marshaled…"

xxxxxxxxxx

Lance lands Red lion and pulls his helmet off as he stands up and stretches. Laying it on the control board, he quickly hits the button to the hatch and jumps down from the cockpit to find a group of men standing in front of him. His eyes move over the group, most of the men are standing, looking in awe at the massive mechanical beast. However, two of them approach him and the tallest one speaks, "Lieutenant McClain?"

Rolling his eyes at the obvious answer, '_Damn it…how many people land mechanical lions in these bays?'_ Lance answers, "Yes…"

The man nods, turn his eyes briefly onto the lion then back to Lance, "The base commander, Commander Lietner, asks you to remain here until he can come to greet you and ascertain what you need."

Narrowing his eyes, Lance speaks slowly, "Well…unfortunately for Commander Lietner, I do not have the time to wait for him "greet" me. I've come for Commander Kogane; he is needed back on Arus for an emergency situation."

The men glance at each other for a moment before the tall one speaks again, "_Lieutenant_ Kogane is under strict orders from Garrison and Commander Lietner. He will not be allowed to even see you unless the commander permits it."

Lance starts shaking with anger before he growls out, "I don't have time for this political bullshit… Now, either show me how to find Kogane or get the hell out of the way."

Both men's jaws tighten in anger as the tall one steps forward and grabs Lance's arm, "You will be escorted to the waiting area Lieutenant McClain and Commander Lietner will deal with you."

Lance growls out, "BULL SHIT!" and twists the tall man around before hitting him on the chin and knocking him out cold. The shorter man yells as he runs at Lance, only to receive a roundhouse kick to the face. As he drops to the ground, Lance shifts his gaze to some of the other men standing around as he asks, "Now, is there anyone here who can show me how to find Keith Kogane…or do I have to start pounding the information out of one of you?"

A young sandy haired man, who looks like he is fresh out of the Academy, steps forward and nervously gestures to Lance to follow him. Lance drops his guard and follows the man out of the landing bay.

xxxxxxxxxx

Keith lies on his bed trying to read his book, but sighs as he finds himself re-reading the same paragraph for the fifth time in a row. Giving up, he puts the bookmarker back in and sets the book aside as someone knocks at the door. He glances over as his roommate leaves his chair at the desk and walks over to the door to open it then steps back, shocked.

Rising from the bed, he watches as Lieutenant Johnson backs into the room and is shocked himself when Lance steps through the door. A smile crosses his face as he exclaims, "LANCE!" and rushes forward to hug him.

Returning the gesture, Lance slaps Keith on the back for a moment before stepping back, "Pack your stuff quick…I have to get you back to Arus fast!"

The smile leaves his face and a look of concern enters instead as Keith grabs his arm, "What happened?"

Lance looks away for a moment before meeting his eyes again, "Lotor attacked…Allura was badly injured and is in MedTech." As Keith pales and opens his mouth to question him, Lance interrupts him, "I'll tell you everything once we are out of here. Get packed, quick!"

Keith quickly turns around, pulls his bag from under his bed, and starts throwing stuff into it from the drawers of his dresser. Lance moves to the closet, starts pulling stuff out, and throws it at Keith, who catches it and stuffs it into his bag quickly as well.

Less than five minutes later, Keith zips the bag shut, after quickly shoving everything into it and looks at Lance, "Let's go!" He glances over at Lieutenant Johnson, who is sitting on his bed watching them and says, "Goodbye…and thanks."

They leave the room quickly and are almost to the landing bay when a group of armed men walk around a corner, led by Commander Lietner, who growls at them "Where the fuck do you think you are going, _Lieutenant_?"

As Lance steps forward, Keith grabs his shoulder to stop him and steps in front of him, standing between Lance and Leitner as he replies, "Home."

Lietner sneers at him as he snarls, "The only place you are going, _Lieutenant_, is back to your room where you will wait until Admiral Graham can reprimand you for your behavior."

A dark, cold look enters Keith's eyes and Lietner fights himself not to step back from it as Keith quietly states, "Get out of my way."

Lietner glares at him and starts to signal the guards to move forward when Keith states, "Last warning, move now."

Turning back to him, Lietner smirks at him, "Or what?"

Keith kicks out with his foot and hits Lietner in the face. As the man crumples to the ground, Keith's dark gaze moves to the men in front of him as he asks, "Anyone else object?"

They part down the center, hugging the walls, as Keith steps over Lietner's prone form and leads Lance down the hallway. Lance smirks at the looks on the faces of the men as they turn away from them and look back down on the unconscious commander.

They quickly hurry out to the landing bay and Lance leads him up to Red lion. They hurriedly enter as Lance pulls his helmet on and sits down in the seat, Keith stows his bag and pulls out the passenger seat. Moments later, Red lion roars and the men below watch with awe as the lion turns around and flies out of the bay.

xxxxxxxxxx

Admiral Graham walks down to his office and looks at the multiple messages on his desk before sighing as he hits some buttons on his video monitor. Coran's relieved face appears before him as he asks, "What is the big emergency Coran?"

The Arus advisor speaks quickly, "Lieutenant McClain is on his way to collect Comman…I mean Lieutenant Kogane to bring him back to Arus."

A look of confusion enters Graham's face as he starts to reply, "How the hell does McClain know…" and gets interrupted when his door opens and his assistant quickly walks in and begins to speak, "Urgent call from Commander Lietner on Titan sir…Lieutenant Kogane assaulted the commander and has gone AWOL with Lieutenant McClain sir!"

Admiral Graham looks from his assistant back to Coran's flushed face and lets out a groan before saying, "I don't think I want to know this…do I?" As Coran begins to stutter, Graham holds up his hand to quiet him and turns back to his assistant, "Tell Lietner I will call him back in a few minutes when I am finished with my call."

As the assistant nods and turns around to leave the room, Admiral Graham turns back to Coran, "Explain and make it quick before I have to deal with my commander."

Taking a deep breath, Coran explains the last few hours, starting with the battle and Allura's injuries before explaining what the doctor has said about her state of mind to heal and their obvious need to get Keith back.

Admiral Graham wipes his face tiredly before growling out, "And McClain couldn't wait until I cleared Kogane's transfer why?"

Coran shrugs and simply states, "Time is of the essence and I have been trying to reach you for the last seven hours to get the clearance." He looks at him reproachfully, "And I was told your meetings were too important to interrupt and was put off time and again by your assistant. You will have to excuse Lieutenant McClain for not waiting for the red tape to clear…our princess could have been dead before everything had been authorized."

The admiral turns red with anger but speaks quietly and furiously, "Very well Coran, Kogane is yours now…you will not request him to be transferred off of Arus again or God help me…"

Interrupting him, Coran replies, "That won't happen…I can assure you."

Hitting the button, Admiral Graham hangs up on Coran without saying farewell and switches to see Commander Lietner's angry face in front of him. Keeping the smirk off his face as Admiral Graham admires the commander's black eye and obviously broken nose, he holds up his hand to stave off the complaint, "I know what occurred, Commander Lietner…Kogane will be reprimanded at my first opportunity."

As Lietner opens his mouth and begins to complain angrily, Admiral Graham sighs deeply and sits back in his chair, wishing he were anywhere else at that moment.


	13. Chapter 13

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 13:

As Red lion flies through space with a determined purpose, Keith leaves his side seat to stand where he can see Lance's tired face and demands, "What the hell happened?"

Lance looks away from the monitors toward his friend's face, "You know you look like shit! Didn't you eat or sleep at that damned base?"

As anger sweeps through Keith, he growls, "Lance…"

Letting out a deep resigned sigh, Lance starts, "It started with the lions…" He looks back up at Keith, "They wouldn't accept any of the new commanders Admiral Graham sent." He gives his friend a sardonic look, "However, Black lion was even worse than the rest. Seems he is a little pissed that you were sent away and none of us could fly him…not Sven or me…the only one Black would respond to was Allura."

Keith's jaw drops as Lance continues, "So when Lotor attacked, we had no choice, Allura had to fly him." A dark look enters his face, "Bastard went after the lion thinking he was going after the new commander or weakest link as he saw it."

The look falls away and Lance becomes quiet for a moment before whispering, "Missiles hit near Black's head and it caused a flash fire in the cockpit. The emergency systems went off like they are supposed to and the C2 foam put it out…but Allura was partially burned," he croaks the last bit out, his voice finally failing him.

Keith falls to his knees and looks away, his entire body shaking as Lance wipes tears from his own face as he quietly finishes, "She has second and third degree burns to her right arm and chest. Her neck and cheek were also burned. Thank God, the helmet protected her hair and eyes. I hate to think what would have happened if her hair would have caught on fire."

With tears running down his face, Keith finally looks up again to meet Lance's face after several moments of silence, "How bad?"

Lance looks away from him and back to the monitors, "Very… Dr. Gorma consulted with specialists on initial treatments." He fights past the lump in his throat, "They had to cut away the burned flesh so it wouldn't cause infections. She is covered in bandages with a tube down her burned throat so she can breathe."

He takes several deep breathes before looking at Keith's pale face again, "The specialists from planet Olion are heading to Arus to help with her recovery. We will find out what they can do for her when they arrive."

Keith stutters as he asks, "Is she…aware?"

Shaking his head, Lance replies, "No, they put in her in drug induced coma. But when she wakes up, that is when she will need you the most." Rubbing his face, he adds, "The doctor said, half her recovery will be her frame of mind. We are hoping with you there…"

Nodding, a determined look in his eyes enters Keith's eyes, "I'll keep her with us…she will not leave me."

Lance returns the nod as he leans forward into the controls, "I'll get us back as soon as we can…" Keith slowly lifts himself back up from the floor and makes his way to his seat. Sitting down with a sigh, he belts himself back in as he says a silent prayer, '_Please God…do not take my love from me.'_

xxxxxxxxxx

Landing Red lion in front of the castle just before dawn, Lance stands up tiredly as Keith grabs his bag to leave the lion. Both jump down, landing in front of the lion's mouth and start for the castle. As they walk inside, Hunk and Pidge stand near the doors waiting. Keith smiles in greeting and is quickly pulled into a bear hug by the big man. He pats Hunk on the back and steps back as Pidge states, "We missed you Cap."

Keith smiles briefly, but worry quickly comes forth in his mind as he asks, "How's Allura?"

Gesturing to them to follow him, Hunk replies as they walk down the hallways, "Same as before Lance left. The group from Olion is expected to be here before lunch and they will take over Princess' care."

As they reach MedTech's waiting room, Keith drops his bag on the floor as Sven and Romelle greet him. Pulling away from the hug Romelle bestows on him, Keith quickly asks, "Where is she?"

Romelle glances at Sven, who nods, before she takes Keith's arm and leads him down the hallway to the observation window where both Dr. Gorma and Coran are standing. He doesn't acknowledge either man as he turns his gaze in horror to his beloved.

Even though Lance had prepared him for what he would find, seeing Allura with gauze wrapped around most of her upper body and a tube going down her throat is almost more than he can take. Choking out in a panicky voice, Keith whispers, "God no…Allura." Romelle gently squeezes his arm as a sign of support. With his other hand, he gently returns the gesture by squeezing her hand before turning to walk to the door.

He's stopped as Dr. Gorma grabs his arm, "One minute…"

Keith rips his arm away from him, "You are not keeping me away…"

The doctor interrupts him, "I don't plan on keeping you away from Princess Allura…but given her condition, you must change into sterile clothing before going into that room."

Calming down, Keith nods at the doctor then follows him into a room adjoining Allura's. Pulling clothing out of a cabinet, Dr. Gorma points to the shower, "Since I don't know where you were…please take a shower and change into these…" as he sets the clothing down on a counter beside him.

Nodding, Keith starts working on the buttons to his Garrison uniform before the doctor interrupts him, "I know you will want to stay with her, so I will have the nurses put a cot in her room and bring you meals. Be careful about switching rooms, we need to keep things as sterile as possible to prevent infections."

At his nod, Dr. Gorma pauses a moment more to state, "It's nice to have you back Commander; just wish the situation was different."

Keith pauses as he removes his jacket to quietly reply, "Thanks…"

Dr. Gorma smiles sadly at him and walks out of the room. Keith quickly strips down and gets into the shower.

xxxxxxxxxx

Dressed in hospital pants and a wraparound shirt, Keith walks into Allura's room to find a nurse going over the machines hooked up to the princess. She glances at him, nods then turns back to her work. He walks up to Allura and pulls a seat up beside her left side. Taking her left hand within his, he places a kiss on it as he whispers, "Hold on Angel…don't you dare leave me now…"

xxxxxxxxxx

Standing at the observation window an hour later watching Keith stroke the princess' left hand, Lance turns toward the door of MedTech as he hears it open and several voices begin speaking. Moving down the hall, he spots a group of people talking to Dr. Gorma and Coran.

His eyes move over the group, taking in the tall, older man in the middle. Black hair streaked with gray at the temples distinguishes him, his skin, a golden brown, with piercing, blue-gray eyes that stare intently at the men in front of him. '_He must be the doctor for Olion...'_ he tells himself before moving onto the other people around him. Surrounded by three women, '_Nurses...'_ he thinks as Lance's eyes move around, taking them in. The first two are older women, forties at least, with sturdy builds and the muscles in their arms giving an indication of how active they are in their jobs. His eyes finally stop on the last member of the group and Lance's breath catches in his throat. '_There is a God...'_ Starting at her head, his eyes move over the long, blond, curly hair secured back into a ponytail. Her nose is small in a heart shaped face with pert, strawberry lips, made for kissing and bright blue eyes framed by long eyelashes that any woman would kill for.

Moving his gaze away from her face, he takes in her long, graceful neck before shifting down to her impressive chest, narrow waistline and curvy hips. Sliding down, he admires the portion of her legs he can see beyond her skirt. Shapely calves lead to ankles Lance can imagine kissing.

Looking back up, he catches her looking at him and smiles warmly at her. He watches her blush profusely before she looks away from him. Hearing his name called, Lance glances over to find Coran signaling him to step forward.

As he walks toward the group, Coran states, "This is Lieutenant Lance McClain, he pilots the Red lion." He looks at Lance, "Lieutenant McClain, this is Dr. Asante from Planet Olion. He will be taking over Princess Allura's care."

At the doctor's nod, Coran continues, "These are the nurses that will provide around the clock care for her Highness..." Lance doesn't pay much attention as Coran introduces him to Miss Elizabeth Smythe and Miss Alice Holmes. His eyes move to the third nurse, who refuses to meet his gaze, as the advisor introduces her, "and this is Miss Sophie Amherst."

Lance reaches forward to take her hand within his, forcing her to look at him, "It's a pleasure Miss Amherst..."

Sophie meets his gaze, her blush growing as she mumbles, "Thank you..." and gently pulls her hand away from him.

Withholding a smile, Lance takes the hand of the other two nurses as well before turning back to the doctor. Shaking his hand, he states, "I hope you can help Princess Allura..."

Studying the man before him, Dr. Asante speaks in a low, deep voice, "Don't expect her to look the same Lieutenant..." He looks at all the men in the room, "There is no magical cure for the type of burns the princess has experienced. While we will replace the skin she lost, she will still have scars."

"How bad will those scars be?"

Everyone in the room turns to watch as Keith walks down the hall toward them. He pauses before them as Coran states, "Keith, I thought you were supposed to stay in Princess' room?"

Keith moves his gaze from the doctor to Coran to reply, "A nurse came in and told me the specialist was here..." He turns his gaze back to the doctor, "What are we looking at?"

Sharp blue-gray eyes look at him carefully as Dr. Asante asks, "And you are?"

As Keith's eyes narrow, Coran steps forward, "Dr. Asante, this is Keith Kogane, Commander of the Voltron Force and the person closest to Princess Allura."

Accessing eyes look the commander over carefully before he speaks, "The process we will use consists of taking a sample of Princess Allura's skin. The harvesting will leave a small scar, so we typically take it from a place it won't be noticed quite so quick...like the back of her thigh."

He pauses a moment before continuing, "From that sample we will grow enough skin to replace that which was lost, but once it heals, it won't look the same as it did before the burn. It may look almost like cheese cloth in appearance and the area may be pink, red or purple in color, depending on how it heals."

Dr. Asante's estimation of Keith goes up as he simply nods in acceptance then asks, "How long will the healing process be?"

"Well, that depends on several factors..." Dr. Asante begins, "Before the skin can be replaced, there must be no blistering and of course, no infections." He pauses a moment then adds, "Once the grafts are in place, Princess Allura will be kept immobile for five days while the grafts heal and attach themselves. After that, full healing can take anywhere from six to twelve months."

"Holy sh..." Lance is cut off by a look from Keith before he turns back to ask, "How long before she will be taken out of the coma?"

Dr. Asante's eyes move to Dr. Gorma, who simply nods to in deference to him. Turning back to Keith, he replies, "Today, if at all possible. I was informed she inhaled some super-heated air that burned her throat, as long as the swelling has gone down enough that she's no longer at risk for airway obstruction, and proves she's able to breathe on her own, I think we can remove the endotracheal tube." He pauses at some of the confused expressions in front of him before he states, "The breathing tube." Then adds, "I would rather have her awake and aware."

Keith represses a shudder and nods, "I insist on being there when she wakes up..."

As Dr. Asante's eyes narrow, Dr. Gorma steps forward, "I think it would be a good idea..." He turns to Dr. Asante and takes the man's arm as he starts to lead him down the hall, followed by his nurses, "If you will come with me, I'll inform you a bit more of the particulars of this case and you will understand why..."

As their voices fade down the hallway, Lance turns back to Keith, "How do you think Allura will take the news of the scarring?"

Silent for a moment, Keith finally looks over at his friend to answer, "I don't care what she looks like..."

"That's not what I asked Keith..." Lance starts only for Keith to cut him off, "But she will... I'll have to make her understand..." He goes silent again then turns away from Lance, "I need to return to her." and walks back down the hall toward Allura's room once more.

Lance sighs as he watches him go, his mind reeling from Allura's predicament until he sees the new nurse walk out of the doctor's office down the hall to the nurses' quarters. For a brief moment, his hormones cause his thoughts to wander to the intriguing young woman, '_Sophie... I'll have to see if I can better make her acquaintance...'_ Whistling to himself, he walks out of MedTech.

xxxxxxxxxx

Three hours later, Keith stands near the foot of the bed as Drs. Gorma and Asante work on Allura. His eyes stay on them as they start checking her over. As she slowly starts to wake up, Dr. Gorma starts saying her name, trying to get her attention while Keith's eyes stay on her face. '_Come on Sweetheart...let me see those beautiful blue eyes of yours...'_

He freezes as she opens her eyes but she doesn't see him. Keith has to stop himself from rushing forward as the look on her face turns to one of panic as she tries to reach up with her left hand for the tube. Dr. Gorma grabs her hand to stop her as he says her name in a calming way.

His gaze stays on her as she looks up into Dr. Gorma's face and tries to make a noise past the tube. Dr. Gorma overrides her, "Princess, you were in an accident in the lion. You cannot speak with the tube you have inside your throat, just squeeze my hand if you understand me."

Keith continues to watch as Dr. Gorma smiles down at Allura, "All right Princess, now I need you to listen carefully to me. You must stay calm while I speak, understand?" Watching Allura's hand within Dr. Gorma's, he observes her move it briefly before looking up as the doctor starts again, "There was a fire in the lion Highness, you did suffer some burns, including to your throat. Because of the burns to your throat, we inserted the tube to help you breathe. We would like to remove that tube now, but you must stay calm, understand?"

Moving out of her line of sight, Keith's vision is blocked as Dr. Gorma and Dr. Asante surround Allura while they remove the tube. A moment later he hears gasping sounds coming from the bed as Dr. Gorma says, "Ok, easy now...try to take nice deep breaths Princess."

A sound escapes her and Dr. Gorma says, "Don't try to speak too much yet. Between your throat healing from being burned and the tube, you will have a difficult time speaking."

Slowly moving back toward the end of the bed, Keith's eyes move up along Allura's length until he faces her again. An oxygen mask had been placed over her mouth and nose and as he looks into her face, he can tell the moment she notices him, her eyes growing wide with recognition.

Smiling gently, Keith whispers, "Hello love..." while reaching down to touch her blanket covered foot. Her one good hand immediately reaches out to him as tears fill her eyes. Dr. Asante steps aside as Keith moves up beside her, taking her hand within his as he leans down to kiss her forehead while whispering, "I'm here love...I'm here..."

When she tries to move her right arm, Dr. Gorma yells out, "No Princess!"

Looking up, Keith whispers to her, "You need to keep that side still, Allura..." At her slight nod, Keith leans back over her, his lips pressed against her forehead as he holds her the best he can without touching her bandages.

Dr. Gorma sighs as he looks down on the couple before lifting his gaze to Dr. Asante. Motioning with his head, they both turn away and leave the room.

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Inhaling the scent of her hair, Keith sighs contentedly before sitting up to look down on Allura once more. As her fingers tighten around his, he tells her, "It's all right Allura, I'm not going anywhere." Sliding a hand down, he caresses the bit of her cheek not covered by the oxygen mask.

Her eyes form a questioning look as she tries to speak and Keith smiles down at her while placing a finger over the mask to get her to be quiet, "I'm guessing you have lots of questions, none of which you will be able to ask right away...at least not easily." The smile leaves his face as he states, "I was told there was a flash fire in Black lion and you were badly burned on your right side Allura. Your hand, arm, part of your chest, neck and a small portion of your right cheek were all burned."

At the tears forming in her eyes again, Keith tightens his grip on her uninjured hand while stating, "It's all right Allura...they are going to heal you." A look passes over his face as he whispers, "You will have some scarring..."

The look in her eyes turns to panic and noises start to escape her. Keith leans down, pulling the oxygen mask down to kiss her lips. A soft sound escapes her and he pulls back to touch her uninjured cheek while looking deeply into her eyes, "I love you Allura...nothing is going to change that. Not how you look or what you wear...nothing." His lips softly press against hers once more before he pulls back to find tears running out of the sides of her eyes and into her hair.

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At the observation window, Coran watches as Keith speaks to Allura then bends down to kiss her. Ignoring the irritation the image brings, his mind, instead, moves over his conversation with members of the council about Keith's return. '_Ahh...if they had been any angrier...I was afraid at least one of them would have a stroke... Good thing they finally understood what was at stake.'_

A hand on his shoulder interrupts his thoughts and turning his head, Coran finds Lance looking past him into the room. His words are aimed at him though as Lance states, "You realize of course, you and the council will not be able to separate them again..."

Snorting, Coran jerks himself so the younger man's arm falls away, "I'm well aware of what is occurring, Lieutenant."

Lance arches an eyebrow at him as he asks, "Are you that bitter Coran?" Gesturing to the room, he adds, "Look at them, does it look like Keith is just using Allura? That he doesn't love her?"

Another snort leaves the advisor as he answers, "It isn't his love for her I have a problem with Lance...he isn't royalty. There are laws here regarding..."

"Who Allura can wed, yeah I know..." Lance steps closer to him as he adds, "But think about this Coran...she's going to have scars the rest of her life. Would any of those princes want to stay with Allura now or would they look at her with disgust?"

As the older man turns to look at him, Lance continues, "He loves her Coran...Keith doesn't care that she is going to be scarred...look at them!"

With Coran's eyes moving back into the room in front of him, Lance exclaims, "Look how he is hovering over her...how could you want a cold, political marriage for her when she can have that?"

For the first time, Coran truly watches them. Keith wipes her tears away and the advisor notes the happy look in Allura's eyes as she stares up at her beloved. Sighing deeply, the older man looks away, his eyes stopping on Lance before he turns away to walk down the hallway.

Shaking his head at the advisor's departing back, Lance steps forward to watch through the window.


	14. Chapter 14

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 14:

Smiling softly at her, Keith wipes Allura's tears away then lifts the oxygen mask back into place. He watches for several long moments as she breathes, moisture forming on the inside of the mask. Lifting his hand, he moves a bit of limp hair back off her face as he says, "I'll talk to the nurses about getting you bathed..."

A perfectly arched eyebrow curves at him and Keith smiles at her, "Love, you've been in the hospital for almost two days now...I'm sure a bath would feel wonderful about now." Then his smile turns devilish, "And let's just say you are a little less than fresh."

Those eyes he adores glare up at him as Keith lets out a short bark of laughter before he lifts her hand up to his lips while saying, "It's all right...I still love you...even if you smell."

Allura pulls her hand from him and uses it to hit him in the chest as Keith continues to laugh at her. As the door to the room opens, her eyes stay on Keith as he turns away from her to check the identity of their visitor.

The look on his face is quite different as he turns back to her, "Allura, just remember, I'll be by your side through everything."

Feeling fear crawling through her veins, Allura watches as Keith sits down in the chair next to the bed, her hand within his once more, as Dr. Gorma comes into view, followed by a man she doesn't know. Her eyes stay on him even as the doctor speaks, "Princess Allura, may I introduce you to Dr. Samuel Asante. He will be taking over your care."

Dr. Asante steps forward with a short bow. His eyes meet hers as he says, "Princess, I will need to do a general assessment of your condition." At the confused look on her face, he states, "We will remove the bandages, wash the areas clean and make sure there is no blistering or infection."

At her nod, he continues, "If all is well, we will proceed with harvesting a sample of your skin." He stops when the princess makes a noise and watches as she pulls her hand away from Keith to take the oxygen mask off her face then tries to speak, "Wh…"

She swallows then tries, "Wh..." but can't get anything out past her throat. Her watery eyes turn to Keith and he grabs a cup sitting on the table beside him. Using a spoon, he pulls an ice chip out of the glass then leans over the princess, "Here love..."

Allura gratefully takes the ice chip and sucks on it for a moment before trying again, "Why?" Her voice is hoarse as she pushes the word out past her dry, sore throat.

Dr. Asante smiles softly at her as he states, "We need to replace the skin you've lost Princess. In that regard, I need a sample from you to grow the replacements so your body doesn't reject them."

Seeing the acceptance in her eyes, he continues, "It will take a day to grow what we need in the equipment we've brought with us. We will sedate you when we apply the skin grafts, then you will be immobilized for five days while those grafts attach themselves to you."

Confusion fills Allura's eyes as she hoarsely asks, "Attached?"

Nodding at her, Dr. Asante replies, "Forgive my lack of details... The grafts attach via blood vessels that grow during the immobilization period...those will bond the grafts to the tissue below them. It's the reason why you must be kept still during those first five days. Anything that disturbs that process could result in failure of the grafts."

At her nod of understanding, he continues, "Once I am satisfied that the healing is going well, you will be able to take tub baths and physical therapy will begin. However, the skin must be kept well moisturized so you will be required to wear what are called pressure garments. These garments do multiple things to promote healing, such as protecting the fragile skin as it heals, promote circulation, decrease the itching that is always present in healing skin and help keep the moisturizers in place."

Allura nods again, feeling Keith take her hand within his once more. Dr. Asante smiles at them then sighs, "We will also be using the port or central line, in the left side of your chest. Through this, we will be giving you TPN, which stands for total parenteral nutrition. You see Princess, burn victims use a lot of calories during the healing process. The only way to give you what you need will be through that port otherwise you could suffer malnutrition which would only slow down the healing process. Do you understand Princess? Do you have any questions for me?"

At the soft shake of her head, Dr. Asante smiles, "Very well, let's get started. I will call in my nurses to remove the dressings and we will start cleaning the burned areas to ascertain your status." His eyes move over to Keith, "If you would excuse us during this short process..."

"NO!" Allura's hoarse voice cries out as she tightens her hold on Keith's hand and starts crying, "No...leave...no..."

Keith stands up then bends over Allura to calm her down, "Shhh, love...I'm not going anywhere." He turns his head to Dr. Asante, his eyes determined, "I will not leave her side..."

The doctor looks Keith in the eyes for a moment then down to Allura before he finally replies, "Very well, but you won't be able to hold her hand during the procedure. We will be moving around her and will need total access without interference."

Nodding in understanding, Keith states, "Very well, I will stand where Allura can see me, but not so I will be in your way."

Releasing a deep sigh, Dr. Asante agrees, "All right, excuse me while I gather my crew."

Keith nods and watches as Dr. Gorma smiles at him briefly before following the man out of the room. Turning back to Allura, he whispers, "I'm here to stay love...they will never separate us again."

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Watching the proceedings from one side of the room, Keith smiles at Allura as she searches for him over the shoulder of one of the nurses. The smile leaves his face as he watches her eyes fill with tears as she looks back down the nurse cleaning her arm while croaking, "Hurts..."

Sophie looks up from her work to whisper softly, "I am sorry Highness...it is necessary to clean the injured area thoroughly..."

As tears continue down her cheeks, Allura finally cries out, "Hurts!"

Unable to take her pain anymore, Keith calls out, "Can't you give her something for it?"

Dr. Asante looks up from the area near her neck he was examining to exclaim, "No, not without putting her to sleep. The areas are just too large for a local anesthetic. But the fact that she is feeling the pain is a good thing; it means the nerves weren't destroyed." He looks away from him to smile gently back down at Allura, "We will be as gentle as we can Princess."

"But..." Dr. Asante's dark look at Keith quiets him as the procedure continues.

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Forty minutes later, Keith moves back to Allura's side and wipes the tears off her cheeks as the nurses finish putting away their instruments. Feeling anger burning through him for the pain inflicted on the princess, he turns his gaze back to the doctor, his tone harsher then he intended as he demands, "Well?"

Dr. Asante arches a brow at him then looks back down into the watery eyes of the Princess of Arus, "There are no infections or blistering. We will perform the harvesting of the skin sample this afternoon. For that procedure, we will sedate you to keep you comfortable."

She doesn't respond to him as the tears continue down her cheeks. He finally adds, "Tomorrow, you will rest. We are still limiting the number of visitors you can have…don't want to chance an infection." His eyes flick over to Keith, "Except for the commander, no one else will be allowed in."

"Thank you Doctor." Keith replies, forcing his tone back to normal, when Allura simply turns her face away while closing her eyes.

Nodding in reply, Dr. Asante walks away and leaves the room. Keith turns his attention back to the princess, leaning over to place a light kiss on her lips while squeezing her hand. When she opens her eyes to look at him, he whispers, "I love you."

Watery sapphire blue eyes stare up at him silently for a moment before she replies in a hoarse voice, "Love you…too." She continues to study him for several long moments before she manages to ask, "They won't…make you leave again?"

Shaking his head, the commander informs her, "It was the condition of my coming back."

She nods at him, but the haunted look in her eyes tells Keith that she doesn't fully believe it. Keeping a sigh from escaping, he settles back against his chair then states, "Five days of being immobilized. I had better find some books to read to you." Smiling softly at him, Allura squeezes his hand in reply.

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Pushing the button to open the doors to MedTech, Lance swaggers in later that afternoon. He looks around a bit disheartened and a little bit irritated not to find the person he's looking for. Moving down the hallway, he reaches the observation window for the princess' room only to find it closed. Sighing irritably, the lieutenant is about to leave when he hears his name being called.

Glancing to the side, he finds his friend, still dressed in his hospital uniform, walking up to him. Keith glances at the closed shutters and grimaces before turning back to Lance, "They are harvesting the skin sample. As soon as they put Allura to sleep, they kicked me out of the room."

"Yeah, Coran gave us an update earlier…" He pauses for a moment, "Aren't you supposed to stay away from everyone else?" questions Lance, as he looks Keith over closely.

Nodding, the commander replies, "I'll shower and change before rejoining Allura. However, I need a few things. Once they perform the surgery, I will not be able to leave her side for the next five days."

Lance sighs and rubs his face tiredly, "What do you need?"

"Some books, several of them. I plan on reading to Allura to distract her." Keith smiles as he adds, "A data-pad so I can do some work while she sleeps would be helpful as well."

"Sure thing." Turning away, Lance starts back for the door.

"Hey Lance!"

Turning around, he finds Keith moving back toward him, "I forgot one thing…a replacement for Allura. Sven can't fly Blue lion forever and with the time it will take her to heal…"

With his eyebrow up, Lance inquires, "Got someone in mind?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Michael Johnson, my roommate during my stay on Titan. He's a good man and I think Blue lion will accept him."

Nodding, Lance replies, "I'll stop by control and let Coran know. He can contact Garrison and request Johnson." Finishing, he heads back out of MedTech without another word.

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Returning to MedTech forty minutes later with a box full of books and a data-pad, Lance's earlier irritation diminishes immediately when he spots the woman walking toward him. He smiles as he says, "Sophie…right?"

The nurse looks up from the chart she was reading, a bit flustered to find the lieutenant's winsome smile aimed her way. She manages a silent nod then tries to move past him. Lance steps in front of her, "Have you seen Commander Kogane? He asked me to bring some things for him."

Sophie looks at the things in his arms then back up into his eyes to state, "He is with the princess."

Nodding in understanding, Lance tries again, "Yes, but he wanted these things and I can't go near him…so…" He hears a sigh escape her before she says, "I can take them to him."

"I can't let you carry all this yourself." The lieutenant replies as he smiles at her once more.

Her eyes narrow on him as she retorts, "You think I am weak?"

Shaking his head quickly, Lance replies, "No! Not at all! It is simply not a very gentlemanly thing to do to make you carry all this stuff." He smiles at her again as Sophie stares at him, as if trying to decide if he was still insulting her or not. Finally, she shrugs then states, "Follow me. You can put those in the antechamber to the princess' room. The commander can gather them later."

Falling in behind, Lance's eyes drift down to the curvaceous backside he is following instead of the surrounding hallways. When she stops in front of a door and looks back at him, his eyes quickly move back up to her face as she states, "In here."

He walks into the opened door then moves over to the far wall to set the box down then stands up straight. Finding Sophie's eyes moving back to his face when they had obviously been looking much lower, Lance smiles at the reddening cheeks as he asks, "So, do you get any time off?"

Sophie's eyes widen slightly as she asks, "Why?"

"Well…" Lance rolls on the balls of his feet and sticks his hands in his jacket as he replies, "Arus is a very beautiful planet and if you would like to see some of it…"

He stops as Sophie shakes her head, "I have no days off. This is not a pleasure trip…"

"Ok, how about dinner some night? You have to eat, don't you?" Lance interjects, pulling his hands out of his pockets as he gestures to her.

Sophie doesn't answer him immediately as she studies him closely. Finally, she turns away toward the door, "I must go."

"That wasn't a negative answer!" Lance calls after her as he follows her to the door.

As she walks down the hallway away from him, a smile forms on her lips when she glances back at him. Her attention turns back to walking as she looks away and continues moving down the hallway. A brilliant smile crosses Lance's face as he calls out, "That definitely wasn't a negative answer…" Whistling a happy little tune, he shoves his hands in his pockets as he heads toward the doors leading out of MedTech.


	15. Chapter 15

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 15:

Keith spends the next day beside Allura, reading to her when she's awake, working when she sleeps. He looks up from the screen when he hears her sigh and glances over to find her turning her head toward him. He smiles as he watches her eyelids slowly open and her brilliant blue eyes become visible. "Hello beautiful."

She returns the smile but then it fades as she whispers, "I'm scared."

Setting the pad down, Keith rises from his chair then moves to sit down next to her on the bed. Taking her good hand within his, he inquires, "Of what?"

Tears fill her eyes as she replies, "What I'm going to look like. I'm going to have scars…"

"I don't care about that Allura." The commander replies forcefully as he bends over her to kiss her lightly on the lips. His only thought to divert her attention.

She turns her head away from him as she retorts, "But I want to be beautiful for you! Not some ugly hag…"

"DON'T!" His tone rises as he places a hand on her mouth to stop her. Keith takes a deep breath before he continues, "You will always be beautiful to me Allura…always. Even when we are old and wrinkled, you will still be the most beautiful woman in the universe to me." Keith removes his hand as he stares into her eyes, "Do you understand me?"

At her silent nod, he smiles at her once more then kisses her on the lips. He pulls away a moment later to whisper, "I love you Allura."

"I love you too. Don't leave me again…"

At the plaintive sound to her voice, Keith sighs, "I already told you that I will not leave again. I'll be with you when they put you to sleep tomorrow and I will be the first face you see when you wake up."

She manages a nod then pulls her hand away from his to pull him down for another kiss. Keith smiles against her mouth as he returns the gesture.

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The next day moves by at a slow pace for Keith. They had taken Allura early in the morning and he has been pacing the waiting room and other parts of MedTech for the last ten hours of her surgery. His eyes move over the other occupants of the waiting room. Everyone had joined him after breakfast. Lunch had been served in the waiting room as they continued their vigil. He looks up when the door near the surgical unit opens and watches as Dr. Gorma moves closer to him.

The older man smiles at him as he states, "The surgery was a success. They will be moving her back to her room shortly then you will be able to go beside her."

Keith's smile is luminous as he says, "I better go get showered and changed so I can go to her." He smiles back at the others then moves down the hallway, following the doctor.

The advisor looks around the room as the others all let out breaths of relief, smile or even release a small laugh. His eyes meet with Nanny's as he states, "I had better go report to the council. Please let me know if there are any further updates."

Romelle smiles at him then glances over at Sven, "Thank God it worked!"

"Don't get too excited yet." Her husband replies as he looks back at her, "The hard part is just starting. Allura will have to remain still for the next five days."

A sigh escapes the Pollux princess as she nods, "It's a good thing Keith will be there to keep her occupied." Laughter escapes out of the man across the room and she looks over at Lance, "What?"

Lance looks up, a devilish look on his face as he retorts, "I just can't imagine either of them staying still, especially for five days."

She rolls her eyes at him and rises, "I'm going check in with Bandor." Her eyes move over to her husband, "I'll see you later." At his nod, she leaves the room.

Sliding closer to his friend, Lance asks, "Care to wager who will go crazy first? Allura or Keith?"

Shaking his head at him, Sven rises as he states, "Enough my friend, I'm going to go with Romelle then get some other work done.

Shrugging, Lance watches as Hunk and Pidge also rise. He starts to follow them then pauses as the sound of the surgical doors opening once more reaches him. Glancing down the hall, he spots Sophie walking out with one of the other nurses. Willing her to look his way, a smile crosses Lance's face when she finally looks up and notices him standing there. He waves at her and watches her turn red in the face before turning away with the other nurse in the opposite direction.

"What are you up to Lance?"

Glancing over at Pidge, he replies, "Cultivating my friend…cultivating." Whistling to himself, he starts for the door, followed by the other two as they chuckle at the "ladies' man."

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Walking into Allura's room, Keith finds the nurse by the name of Alice checking over the machines then looking down at the princess. Moving closer, he quietly inquires, "Is she awake?"

"Not yet." The older woman smiles at him. "We knew you needed to be here when she does, so had Dr. Gorma retrieve you a bit early. The anesthetic should wear off soon."

Nodding his thanks, Keith moves to sit beside the princess and lets his eyes move over her. She looks much the same with bandages covering all of her new skin. However, now there are bands going over different limbs, holding her in place, including one over her forehead. Fifteen minutes pass before she moans softly as she comes to. Standing up, Keith bends over her as her eyes slowly open, "Hello beautiful."

Allura blinks as if not seeing him, her eyes drifting shut again. Glancing over at Alice, Keith watches her glance at a monitor before telling him, "It's normal for them to drift in and out as they come to. Have some patience Commander."

Sighing, he sits back down and continues to watch the princess closely over the next several minutes as the nurse begins calling her name and gaining Allura's attention as she finally opens her eyes fully. Standing up again so she can see him, Keith smiles at her as her eyes settle on him and the vagueness slowly leaves them. Reaching down, his fingers move over her cheek as he whispers to her, "Welcome back."

Her eyes slowly close once more as a quiet moan leaves her. Sitting down beside her, Keith settles his hand on top of her good one and waits. A minute later, her eyes open once more and she stares up at him a whining sound of discomfort escaping her.

"Are you in pain Princess?"

Keith glances over to find Alice looking down at Allura, her gaze inquiring. He turns his head back to the patient as she tries to nod but finds she can't.

"Don't try to move Princess. Remember, you must stay still. Would you like some pain medication?"

Looking down into Allura's eyes to find tears filling them, Keith answers for her, "Yes she is, please give her something."

Alice gives him a slightly irritated look, "She needs to answer for herself."

"But clearly can't right now." He retorts then adds, "If you bothered to look into her eyes, you can see that she's in pain."

Looking away from the commander, Alice looks down into the princess' eyes to find the tears and sighs, "Very well, I'll put the medication in your IV."

Keith watches the nurse as she puts a shot into the IV then looks back down at Allura as he feels her trying to squeeze his hand. He smiles at her as he whispers, "I love you." The look in her eyes changes as the medication takes effect and she manages a small smile in response.

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The next five days pass by painfully slow for Allura. Confined to the bed and unable to move at all, her only comfort is the man staying with her day and night. Her eyes move over him as he sits beside her on the bed, reading to her. His dark eyes move along with the sentences he is reading. Shifting her gaze, she drifts down to his mouth, watching his full lips moving as he speaks. Mesmerized, Allura releases a sigh as she wishes once more that she could at least move her good arm so she could touch Keith.

The sound reaches his ears and he stops to look down at her, "You ok?"

Managing a smile for him, Allura replies, "Yes, just wishing I could touch you."

His eyes darken even more as he leans down and kisses her lightly on the lips. They gazes meet as he states, "Today is the last day of being immobile, tomorrow you will be able to get out of that bed for a while." His eyes twinkle with mischief as he adds, "And perhaps a little caressing…"

Allura doesn't respond to his teasing as she looks away, "Dr. Asante said they were going to check for infection and if there isn't any and the healing is going well then I can start wearing the pressure garments in another week."

Nodding, Keith sits back up while replying, "Yes, and you will be able to leave MedTech shortly after that I would imagine."

"NO!"

Shocked by her outburst, Keith notes the panicky look in her eyes as he reaches down to touch her cheek, "Allura, what's wrong?"

Tears slide down her cheeks as she whimpers, "Everyone will see…" then stops and falls silent.

"See what, love?" Keith inquires as he wipes at the tears.

"Me…" she replies with such anguish, it touches his heart.

"Oh Allura…" He whispers as he leans down to kiss her lightly once more. Looking into her eyes, Keith warmly reasons with her, "No one is going to care about any of this. Your people just want to see you alive and well."

"No…" she answers, her tone firm with conviction.

"Allura, you will have to face them at some point." Keith replies quietly then adds, "You can't hide away from them for the rest of your life."

Her eyes close as if to shut him, and his words, out. Reaching down to caress her cheek, he whispers, "Look at me, love." As her lids slowly rise to show the sapphire depths below, Keith smiles softly as he consoles her, "We will start out small. Let the team come visit, they desperately want to see you, especially Romelle and Nanny."

She watches him closely for several moments before replying, "Ok."

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Stepping off the shuttle, Lieutenant Michael Johnson recognizes one of the men standing there waiting for him. His eyes move over the others, taking in that most of them are about the same age except for one pilot. The youngest seems to be no more than seventeen years old and barely able to shave. Hefting his bag over his shoulder, he moves closer to them, only stopping when he is two feet away. Setting down his bag, he salutes them, "Lieutenant Michael Johnson reporting for duty."

"Welcome Michael. I am Commander Sven Holgersson of Planet Pollux, filling in until you are trained." Sven replies as he takes a step closer and shakes his hand. Gesturing to the rest of the men, he goes down the line, "I believe you met Lieutenant Lance McClain, he pilots the Red lion." As both men nod to each other, Sven continues, "Private Hunk Garrett, pilot of Yellow Lion and Private Darrell Stoker, affectionately known as Pidge. He pilots the Green lion."

Smiling at each of the men in turn, Michael asks, "Where is Commander Kogane?"

"With Princess Allura." Sven replies as he gestures the man to follow him and the others into the castle. "He doesn't leave her side unless there is an emergency. You will see him later."

Michael's eyes go wide as they enter the castle and he looks around at the technologically advanced building. After climbing several flights of stairs, they stop near a room that Sven informs him is his during his stay on Arus. After setting his bag down on the bed, he's led out of the room and down to the control room.

An older man looks down on them from a raised platform. Gesturing up to him, Sven states, "This is Coran, the castle diplomat and advisor to the princess." As Michael studies the room, Sven directs him to the platform, "Let's get you into Blue lion."

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Later that night, Sven pushes the button to open the door to MedTech and walks through the hallways until he reaches the observation window for the princess' room. Looking inside, he finds the princess fast asleep in her bed and Keith sitting in a chair beside the bed working on a data-pad. Tapping on the window, he gets Keith's attention then points to the door. He watches Keith glance at Allura then nod.

Moving to the door, Sven walks into the antechamber as the door to the princess' room closes behind Keith. He smiles at his friend as he states, "Blue lion accepted Michael. We've already started training him."

Keith lets out a breath of relief as he replies, "Great!"

"I think he will fit in well with the team." Sven goes on to add, "Hunk and Pidge already seem to like him."

"And Lance?" Keith inquires with a raised eyebrow.

A snort of laughter escapes Sven as he replies, "He's being Lance and reserving his judgment for now, as well as being a sarcastic bastard. Michael seems to know how to handle him though."

A smile crosses Keith's face as he relaxes his stance. Sven glances past him to the closed door and asks, "How's Allura?"

"I think we will both be happy after Dr. Asante clears her to move around tomorrow. The last five days haven't been a picnic." Keith replies as he gestures over to the shower. "There doesn't seem to be any sign of infections and the healing is going well, but to be safe, I'll take a shower before going back in to join her again."

Sven nods then says, "I'll leave you to it then." As he starts for the door, Keith stops him, "Bring the others by tomorrow. After Dr. Asante clears Allura, I want them to visit her. She needs to be around people again."

"I'll let the others know at breakfast." Waving at him, Sven says, "I'm heading for bed. Good night, my friend."

"Good night." Keith replies as he watches the door shut behind his friend. Releasing a sigh as the worry over a new pilot dissipates; he heads toward the shower.

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The next day, Keith watches as Dr. Asante finishes looking over the princess' new skin, his fingers gently turning her arm before starting to re-wrap it in fresh gauze. His tone is soft and kind as he states, "Princess, the healing is going very well. There is no sign of infection. I think you could safely have other visitors now if you wish."

She doesn't reply to him, instead turning her gaze to the man across from her. Keith smiles down at her as he states, "They are waiting for you."

Dr. Asante finishes his task then stands up to look at the commander, "Just ask them to not overwhelm her please." At Keith's nod, he smiles down at the princess once more then gestures to his nurse to follow him out of the room.

Sitting down next to her on the bed, Keith takes her hand within his and raises it to the back of his mouth to kiss it gently. He holds it firmly between both of his hands as he inquires, "Do you feel up to seeing the others?"

He watches her closely as she thinks about it for a moment then replies quietly, "Yes."

"I'll go get them." Keith states as he starts to rise from the bed.

"NO!" She grabs at his hand, almost pulling him down on top her as she begs, "Don't leave me! Please!"

"Allura…" Settling down beside her, Keith says, "I'm only going right outside the door to get the others. I'll be back in less than a minute."

"What if they try to make you leave?" She asks as tears slide down her cheeks. "I couldn't bear it if they made you leave again!"

Bending down to kiss the tears off her cheeks, he replies, "Never again love. I'll never leave you and no one, not Coran, the council or Lotor will ever make me." He moves to kiss her lightly on the lips then looks deeply into her eyes. "Trust me."

At her short nod, he stands back up, "I'll be back in a minute."

Allura watches him closely as he walks out of the room. Releasing a sigh, Keith moves down the hallway to the waiting crowd. Smiling at them, he says, "She's ready to see you…" His eyes move over all the anxious faces, "All of you. Just watch her responses and if she appears to be tiring, cut the visit short."

At their nods, he leads the group down the hallway and stands back as Romelle and Nanny push their way through the door first. He smiles at Sven and claps a hand on his shoulder as they enter, followed by Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Coran.

Keith notes the anxious look on her face until she catches sight of him then turns her attention back to Romelle and Nanny as they talk excitedly to her. "She is still afraid of you being sent away?" Sven's question is whispered so quietly that he barely heard it. He waits until Coran has moved over to the bed and starts talking to Allura before answering quietly, "Yes. She panics every time I leave the room and I don't know what to do to assure her that won't happen."

"You can't." Sven responds calmly as he turns enough to look into Keith's eyes while adding, "Only time will do that."

Nodding, Keith manages a small smile then moves farther into the room to join the others as they visit with the princess.


	16. Chapter 16

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 16:

That night, Keith sighs as he looks over at Allura's sleeping form. When the door opens, he turns his head to find Lance walking in glancing at the princess before his gaze moves to Keith and he whispers, "Pidge and Hunk wanted me to tell you Black is repaired."

He sits down in the chair next to Keith before he continues, "They would appreciate it if you would come down to the bay for a few minutes to check him out."

Letting out a sigh, the commander glances over at Allura before turning back to his friend, "I'd like to, but I can't leave her. If she wakes up…"

Lance lets out an impatient sound, "You've been in this room since you've returned." He glances back at Allura again. "She is sleeping Keith. You can go down, check out Black and be back in a few minutes."

Wiping his face tiredly, Keith looks at the princess' tranquil expression then finally back to Lance, "Fine, but get Nanny or Romelle in here first. If she does wake up while I'm gone, I want someone with her."

Nodding, Lance stands up and leaves the room. Keith rises from his chair and steps closer to the bed. Leaning over as Allura continues to sleep, he kisses her forehead and whispers, "I'll be right back love…"

The door opens again minutes later and Nanny walks in whispering, "I'll keep an eye on her Commander."

Keith smiles his thanks, glances down on the princess once more then turns around and leaves the room.

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Following Lance into the repair bay, Keith looks up at Black lion as he sits between the repair towers that surround him. Turning his gaze away from the lion, he finds Pidge and Hunk standing in front of it, watching him closely for his reaction.

Walking farther into the room, he stops before them as he looks back up at the lion again. Turning his gaze once again to the men before him, Keith states, "Well, Black looks like he did before…"

Pidge smiles at him as Hunk speaks, "Looks the same, but with vast improvements." Gesturing to the lion, he continues, "Besides putting in stronger outside panels around the head, capable of taking just about any kind of missile damage, we also put in some fire proof panels to insure there will never be a fire within the lion like that again. The same panels are being put into all of the lions."

Smiling at him, Keith turns away to step over to one of the front legs of the lion. Running his hand along it, they all look up when a sudden mewling, whining sound comes out of the lion.

Lance looks up at the lion flabbergasted then turns to Pidge and Hunk as he asks, "What the hell was that?"

They both shrug as they look up at the lion. Smiling sadly, Keith pats the lion's leg while speaking quietly, "It's all right Black…I know you were trying to protect her."

The purring sound that comes out of the lion next has Lance backing away as he asks, "What the hell?" of no one in particular.

Keith turns back to the men as the purring sound stops and smiles, "Well, if what Coran says is true and they have a soul within them…makes sense that Black thinks he needs to apologize."

Lance arches an eyebrow at him and Keith shakes his head, "I'm going to head back to Allura's room." He turns back to Hunk and Pidge, "I'll take him out tomorrow sometime for his test flight. Good work guys and thanks." then turns to walk out of the bay.

As the commander leaves, Lance turns back to the other two, "I know Red can have an attitude…but souls?"

The sudden roaring of Black lion has Lance covering his ears as Hunk and Pidge start laughing.

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Nanny sits beside the princess' bed, humming softly as she works on some needlework she brought with her. A noise from the bed has her setting aside the fabric and standing. She looks down to find Allura awake, her eyes moving about before she hears the quiet raspy question of, "Where's Keith?"

Smiling, the governess replies, "He had to go check something, he will return shortly."

Tears fill Allura's eyes as she questions, "He left?"

Nanny shakes her head, "No Princess, he isn't gone…he only went to the repair bay to examine the lion."

Tears continue down the princess' face and a frantic look comes to her eyes as she rasps out, "They took him away again?"

Still shaking her head, the older woman tries to calm her, "The commander isn't gone, he will return in a few minutes."

However, Allura isn't listening, she starts crying loudly, becoming hysterical as she mournfully cries out, "KEITH!"

Nanny stands there stunned for a moment then tries to quiet her, "No Princess, please calm down." only to be ignored as Allura continues to hysterically call out Keith's name.

Feeling helpless in trying to calm her down, Nanny is about to press the button for the nurse's station when Keith's voice suddenly fills the room. An overwhelming sense of relief floods the older woman and she puts a hand to her chest as he states, "Allura, I'm here!"

She steps aside as he grabs Allura's left hand and leans down over her on the bed, "I'm here love, shush…"

The governess walks out of the room, leaving the door open. She stands outside the room, looking in through the observation window as the commander tries to calm the princess down. Through the open door she listens as Allura hoarsely cries, "They will take you away from me again…"

Keith lies down in the bed beside her, trying to lie as close to her as he can without touching her healing, new skin. His fingers stroke her uninjured cheek as he states, "No love, I've told you, never again."

Nanny watches as he wipes the tears from the princess' eyes while he continues to try to calm her, "Please Allura, you must rest. I promise you, I will not leave your side again. The first thing you will see when you awaken is my face."

Unable to listen to her charge's crying anymore, the governess walks out of MedTech and down the hallway. She hurriedly walks to her destination, knocking on the door when she reaches it. The door opens and Coran, dressed in his nightclothes and a robe, looks at her in askance, "Nanny, what is wrong that you would disturb me at this hour?"

She pushes past him into his room and turns around once she is standing in the middle of it. She looks at him and states, "I need a drink Coran…a strong one."

Arching his brow, the advisor moves over to a cabinet and removes a bottle followed by two glasses. He sits down at the small table in his room and Nanny quickly joins him as he pours out two measures then hands her one.

Taking the glass, the governess swirls the amber contents around for a moment before gulping it down and holding out the glass for a refill. Eyes wide, he leans over to refill her glass, and watches her closely as she sips this one before stating, "We did this to her Coran…"

She empties the glass again then continues, "You and I…we pushed and pushed until she couldn't take it anymore. We demanded perfection from her, which she tried her best to give to us and the only thing she has ever asked for in return is the man holding her as she sleeps this very minute."

With her holding out her glass again, Coran sighs as he refills it and tops his own off as well. Nanny sips again and grimaces as it burns down her throat before continuing, "And we took him away from her."

The advisor looks away as she slams her glass down on the table, "For the last month before the accident I watched my baby suffer. She didn't eat unless forced, didn't sleep unless drugged and I couldn't get her to leave her bed. Princess Romelle, bless her soul, was the only one who could get her to live a little again." Nanny stands and towers above Coran as she growls out, "Then she sacrifices herself for this planet again, even though she had said she was walking away." She grabs him by the front of his robe, "Our princess is lying in MedTech…was burned…because of us!"

Tears run down Coran's face as the governess releases him and walks to the middle of the room again. She wipes her own tears away as she turns back to him, "You will address the council tomorrow. You will _demand_, not ask, that they change the law so that Princess may marry the man she loves as well as any generation after her." She becomes silent for a moment before adding, "The royal house of Arus has sacrificed enough that they deserve their happiness…wherever they may find it."

He watches as she walks to his door, opens it and quietly walks out. Picking up his glass, Coran gulps down the contents before pushing the glass away from him as he continues to wipe at his wet cheeks.

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The next day, Coran swiftly walks down the hallways of the castle toward the council chambers, Allura's circlet within his hand. As he enters the room, the council members stand at attention until he waves them down.

Standing within the middle of the room, the head of the council remains standing as the others sit and he asks, "What is so dire that you demanded our presence here today Coran?"

The advisor stands within the middle of the room silent for several moments before turning his eyes to the fifteen men surrounding him. He looks each of them in the eye before stating in a clear voice, "I am here to demand a change in the laws of Arus regarding who members of the royal house of Arus may marry."

Chaos erupts throughout the room as the men stand up and begin to yell their reactions. The council head picks up his gavel and hammers on the pedestal to bring about order. Once the room quiets down, the head turns toward the advisor and snarls, "You have no right to make that demand of us Coran! That law was created generations ago to protect the integrity of the royal house of Arus!"

Holding out Allura's circlet before the men, Coran makes sure each of them sees what it is before he throws it down on the ground before the head of the council, "Then you no longer have a royal house of Arus to protect."

Once again chaos erupts within the chamber but this time it is Coran's booming voice that brings it to a halt, "Princess Allura has made herself quite clear…either she is permitted to marry whom she chooses, in this case Commander Kogane, or she will resign as Princess of Arus and as its last surviving member, the royal house of Arus will die with her."

As the voices begin to fill the room with their discord once more, Coran yells, "ENOUGH!" He turns to glance about the room before stating, "Princess Allura has sacrificed more for this planet than any sovereign before her. She has lost her childhood, friends and family to the attacks by Doom. Instead of collapsing under the weight of it as so many would have done, Allura has risen like a phoenix from the ashes and she has restored most of Arus to the glory it once had." He takes a deep breath before continuing, "In return, all she has asked for is the right to marry the man she loves…the man that has worked alongside her for the past three years to bring Arus back from the brink of destruction. Commander Kogane has proven his worth, time and again as he risked everything, including his life, to keep the people of this planet safe…to keep Princess Allura safe. In return for that devotion, what did we do? We called him a traitor and had him sent away like a common criminal when his only crime was to return the love of the Princess of Arus."

Silence fills the air for a moment while Coran struggles to get his emotions under control. Lifting his head, he speaks again, "I will always regret my part in this tragedy. If I hadn't been such a blind, old fool, Commander Kogane would have been here in Black lion, where he belongs and Princess Allura would not be suffering as she is right now in MedTech. Would he have been injured? I don't know…his flight experience is so vast…" and he stops speaking again.

Wiping at the tears on his face, Coran's voice becomes sturdy once more, "This travesty stops now…" He stops speaking as he glares at the men in the room before stating, "If we deny her, she will leave Arus with the commander and have no doubt gentlemen…that the entire Voltron Force would leave with them. With the lions unwilling to accept new pilots, we would be at the mercy of Planet Doom."

As the voices erupt again, the head of the council holds up his hand to quiet them, "Coran, be reasonable. Why change the law? We can give Princess Allura permission to marry the commander without changing the law."

Coran shakes his head before he eyes the council head and states, "There was a time for this law, but no more. As Nanny so eloquently stated last night, the royal house of Arus has sacrificed enough for this planet. They deserve their happiness…wherever they can find it."

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Keith lies along Allura's left side, watching her sleep. Lifting his hand, he gently pushes her hair away from the bandages on her injured cheek before leaning down to lightly kiss her upon on her lips. As her eyes open, he smiles down into her face, "Good morning beautiful."

Tears run down Allura's face as she reaches for his face with her left hand and whispers, "Keith…"

Rubbing his cheek against her hand, he turns his face and kisses her palm before leaning back down to kiss her lips again, "I promised you I would be here love…they will never take me away from you again."

He reaches with his fingers to wipe away her tears as he begs, "Please don't cry…"

The door to the room opening has Keith looking over and a small frown crosses his face as the advisor walks into the room holding a piece of paper. He smiles gently down on Allura before clearing his throat, "I have a new law that requires your signature before it becomes active Princess."

Keith sits up away from Allura before asking, "Can't it wait Coran?"

The advisor shakes his head, "No, I'm afraid not. This law has been a long time in coming. It needs to be signed right away so it can help those in need of it."

Looking back at the princess, Keith asks, "Can you handle it?"

A quiet, "Yes." leaves her as the commander takes the paper from Coran. Turning back to her, he says, "I'll read it to you love…" As his eyes scan the paper, Coran stands back and smiles as Keith's eyes go wide and a disbelieving look enters them before he looks back up at him to ask, "Is this legit?"

At Coran's nod, Keith turns to the princess with a wide smile on his face as she looks up at him curiously. Holding out the paper to her, he exclaims, "They are changing the law Allura! We can marry and you can still be Queen of Arus!"

Coran feels a deep satisfaction at the happy look that enters Allura's eyes before the commander leans down to kiss her, obstructing his view. Chuckling at the two of them, the advisor clears his throat to regain their attention, "I hate to break this up and be a stickler for details…but she needs to sign it first Commander, then you need to ask her to marry you."

Jumping up from the bed, Keith pulls the older man into a hug, laughing. Coran smiles, pulling away, he states, "Now Princess, if you would sign the document."

He watches as Keith walks back over to her and holds it up for her to sign with her left hand. After she signs it, he hands it back to Coran, the smile still on his face. The older man looks over the two people in front of him and the smile leaves his face before saying, "I want to apologize to you two…" The princess' eyes settle on him and Coran fights to keep his emotions under control as he continues, "Allura, instead of you being able to turn to me for advice like you've done for years, you felt you had to keep your relationship a secret…" Shaking his head, he swallows several times before adding, "If I was the advisor I should have been, you would have come to me from the beginning and asked me to help you two find a way to be together. Instead, like the foolish, overprotective, old man that I am, you knew that I wouldn't see past the laws that were made eons ago and have no part of the Arus of today."

He stops speaking and looks in both of their eyes for several moments before saying, "I caused both of you untold amounts of heartache and while I don't expect you to forgive me for that, I do hope you will understand how truly sorry I am." Coran turns to leave but stops when he feels a hand on his arm. Looking up, he finds Keith smiling at him as he states, "Coran, I, of all people, have just as much culpability in this as you do." He glances back at the princess briefly before turning back to the older man, "I should have insisted we come to you, but like Allura, I was afraid…afraid that by coming forward we would be pulled apart if the council denied us."

Keith clears his throat before continuing, "So like the coward Allura once accused me of being…I agreed to keep our relationship a secret, knowing full well that at some point things would go wrong and everyone would know." He looks deeply into Coran's eyes, "But I would rather have some small part of her life than none at all…so I chose the secret. I ask you to forgive me Coran, for not trusting you to help us."

The advisor studies his eyes for a moment then pulls Keith into a brief hug before stepping back and stating, "We are all fools when it comes to love. Now excuse me…" He holds up the signed document, "I want to get this back to council."

His eyes meet Keith's again and he clears his throat, "Don't you have a question you should be asking her?" The expression on the commander's face has Coran chuckling as he leaves the room.


	17. Chapter 17

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

Chapter 17:

The news of the engagement spread through the castle like wildfire. As the rest of the day wears on, Allura and Keith have constant visitors congratulating them and asking when the "big day" will be. Keith sighs as Pidge asks the question he has heard more times than he cares to count in one day. "So Cap…when are you and Princess going to tie the knot?"

Managing a smile, he glances down at the princess then looks back at his friend to answer, "Sometime after Allura's done with therapy."

Pidge smiles at them both then looks over as the door opens and Coran walks in. A smile is on the older man's face as he states, "The law is now in place." His eyes move around the people still in the room and adds, "I can see the news has already spread."

A small laugh escapes the woman lying in the bed. Coran looks down at the princess to find a bright smile on her face and happiness shining out of her eyes. _'I've never seen her so happy.'_ He thinks as he looks down at her. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he looks across at the commander, "Normally the princess would present you to the people as her choice of king, but given the circumstances, we are sending out heralds to alert the people." At Keith's nod, he continues, "She would also present you to the council, however," he states proudly, "that I will do on her behalf tomorrow so we can begin planning the wedding."

"Thank you Coran." A smile crosses Keith's face as he responds.

Nodding in response, Coran leans down over Allura and kisses her forehead, "Congratulations my child."

"Thank you Coran." She smiles up at him as she replies quietly.

His eyes move over the people of the room then he walks out. Keith looks around the room then finally asks, "Where's Lance?"

Sven looks up from his conversation with Hunk to reply, "Out on patrol. He said he will stop by later."

With Sven turning his attention back to his conversation with Hunk, Keith moves to sit beside his fiancée. Unable to touch her hand since he's sitting on her damaged side, he moves a hand to the top of her head, pushing the hair out of her face. Allura abandons her conversation with Romelle as she turns her head to look at him, a smile on her face as she studies him. Keith returns the smile as he gently caresses her hair then both of them turn their attention to the other people in the room as the conversation begins again.

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Later that evening, Lance glances through the observation window into Allura's room to find Sophie checking the machines still hooked up to the princess and writing the information down on a data-pad. Continuing to look about the room, he finally notices Allura is asleep in the bed. Wondering where Keith is, Lance walks quietly into the room.

Smiling at Sophie when she glances his way, he watches as she flushes and looks back at her data-pad. Walking over to her, he quietly asks, "Do you know where the commander is?"

He almost laughs as she turns even more scarlet when she glances into his eyes and away again before murmuring, "Errand."

Turning his attention to Allura briefly, he notices she is in a sound sleep then turns his attention back to Sophie, who is quickly walking out of the room. He follows her and stops her in the hallway as he loudly asks, "Sophie, can I ask you something?"

As she turns to face him, her quiet beauty and demeanor once again takes in Lance as he closes the distance between them. Watching her pert little mouth tremor slightly with her nervousness, Lance puts on his most charming smile as he inquires, "Do you have any plans this evening when you are finished with your shift?"

Her eyes go wide and she starts to turn away from him. He lightly grasps her arm to keep her from running away as he adds, "Hey…I'm a nice guy…ask anyone!" Using a finger to tip her chin up, he gazes into her blue eyes to softly whisper, "I just wanted to take you for a walk through the gardens. In the full moonlight…they are…dazzling."

As her blue eyes study his face, Lance holds the stare for a moment before quietly asking, "Would you like to go?"

She stares at him for a moment longer before she nods her head, then turns to walk away from him. Lance smiles at her retreating back as he states, "I'll pick you up here then!"

Turning back for a moment, she smiles softly at him and nods before turning to walk down the hall again. Lances punches the air as he says, "YES!" and turns back around to sit with Allura for a while.

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Promptly at 10:30PM, Lance shows up at the entrance to MedTech. Just as he is about to open the door to enter, it slides open and a startled Sophie stops within it. Recovering first from the abrupt encounter, Lance smiles at her as he takes in her appearance. Her wavy, blond hair is down around her shoulders and she is wearing a halter style, emerald green sundress that stops just below her knees. Around her shoulders is a white lace shawl that she uses to protect her chest from his gaze as he moves his eyes up and down her figure.

Looking back into her eyes, Lance's smile grows as he simply states, "You look amazing…"

Flushing, Sophie drops his gaze as she steps forward to take his proffered arm. Unable to stop himself from smiling, Lance glances down at her from time to time, as they make their way out to the garden. Stopping beside the interior door, he flips a switch before opening the door and leads Sophie into the gardens.

Her eyes move around the gardens, taking in the twinkling fairy lights that cast a warm glow on the flowers as she lifts her eyes to take in the full moon above. Pulling away from Lance, Sophie walks farther along the path and pauses to admire some flowers in front of her.

Wanting to impress her, Lance joins her as he comments, "Those are moon flowers…they only bloom at night." Sophie turns her head to look at him, as she takes in his handsome profile, visible only by the light of the moon.

She takes his hand within hers and continues down the path farther into the garden, leading Lance more into the darkness. Stopping near a break in the path, she turns her gaze back to him to ask quietly, "Which way?"

Lance smiles at her and points to the path leading to the right, which is by far the remotest and private part of the garden. Returning his smile with a shy one of her own, Sophie leads the way down the path.

Several feet later, she finds them in the middle of an encircled area. Terraces of vines and flowers go over their heads as ivy grows along the exterior wall in front of them. Sophie turns back to Lance who reaches for her cheek with his hand. Caressing it gently, he whispers, "You are so lovely…" The moonlight makes Sophie's hair shine silver and her blue eyes gaze up at him with affection as he studies her.

Smiling at him, Sophie pulls away and steps off the garden path. Lance follows her until she stops a few feet ahead of him, standing in the middle of a grassy area. Turning back to him, she quietly asks, "Why did you ask me out here?"

Lance smiles charmingly as he steps closer to her, answering, "You are a visitor here and I thought you might enjoy my enchanting company and a midnight stroll."

Arching a brow at him, Sophie takes the shawl from around her shoulders and spreads it on the ground near her. She kicks off her shoes and stepping onto the shawl, she responds, "I heard a few rumors about you Lieutenant McClain…"

Clearing his throat, Lance steps even closer as he replies, "You better take those stories with a grain of salt…" He almost gasps when a seductive smile crosses her face as she reaches up to her neck and purrs out, "Oh…I certainly hope they were true…"

As her top comes down revealing some of the sweetest breasts Lance has seen in ages, his breath stops in his throat as she pushes the dress down her hips, revealing the fact that she isn't wearing any underwear as she kicks the dress off to the side.

With her standing before him gloriously naked, Lance feels his body instantly react as she takes a step closer to him to state, "Especially the rumor about the size of your penis and how good you are with it…"

Lance fairly chokes as she launches herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, her tongue pushing into his mouth as she kisses him. The thought of '_What the fuck happened to the sweet one…'_ enters his mind briefly before her hand sliding between them to stroke his throbbing manhood clears his mind of every thought save one…how to get undressed as quickly as possible.

Sophie groans as his hands find her bottom and squeezes it. Pulling herself away from him, she gets him to lower her feet back to the ground as she pushes the jacket off his shoulders. She starts to pull at his shirt only to have him take over and rip it over his head as she works on getting his belt and pants open. Pulling on him so Lance turns around, she yanks his pants and underwear down so they are around his thighs then launches herself at him again.

This time Lance loses his balance and falls backward to find himself lying on her shawl. He starts to say, "Um…Sophie…" but she covers his mouth with her own to stop him. With her tongue once again stroking his mouth, he groans deeply as her fingers trace down his side and finally stroke his hardened shaft.

Raising her head, she states, "Shut up and fuck me…" before shoving her mouth on his again and sliding her body down his, enjoying the feel of his hard body against her own. Breaking the kiss again, she sits up and raising herself briefly, sheathes herself with a groan.

Lance barely has time to register how tight and wonderful she feels before she is moving against him. Delighted to let her control it, he sits up enough to pull a hard nipple into his mouth as he wraps his arms around her to hold her close to him.

For several long minutes, the only sounds in the garden are the heavy breathing and moans and groans of the couple in the throes of their passion. Sophie shoves Lance back down and holds onto his shoulders as she increases the speed of her movements.

He grabs her hips and pulls on them in encouragement until she throws back her head as she climaxes, "Oh God, Oh God…AAARRRUUUUU!" Almost forgetting his own climax as his body releases, Lance looks up at Sophie in horror as she continues making a noise that sounds like a dog howling at the moon.

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Rubbing his neck, Keith walks down the hallway to his room. Looking at his wristwatch, he grimaces as he notes that it is almost three o'clock in the morning. '_Time for a fast shower then I had better get back to Allura before she wakes up. Hopefully I can get a few hours of sleep with her before I have to get some work done…'_

His thoughts are interrupted as he notices Lance coming down the hall toward him. He notes the dirt on his face and in his hair and the rumpled appearance of his clothing as Lance draws nearer. Keith takes in the slightly amazed look on his friend's face before asking him, "Are you all right Lance? Something happen?"

Pausing, Lance smiles goofily before replying "Got raped…" and continues his walk down the hallway.

Keith arches his eyebrows in puzzlement then starts laughing as he notes the slightly staggering walk of his best friend before he manages to reach his room. Still laughing as he reaches his own room, he thinks, '_Lucky son of a bitch…'_


	18. Chapter 18

The last chapter…a moment of sadness in that it is over, yet happiness because then I can move onto the next story. I owe many thanks to the wonderful people that helped me with this story. Wade Wells, Xia Cheyenne and CMS…many thanks for the edits, the shoves to get a move on to finish it and all the other encouragement I've received over the last two years of our friendship.

Many thanks to the reviewers, even the ones that didn't care for the story. It is the writer's right to do with a story what they will, but also a reader's right to decide they don't like it. Obviously…I like the reviews of those who like it more. ;) LOL!

I also owe a thank you to Miss Harmony Winters…who helped me with some of the medical knowledge about burns and treatments. Thanks girl!

Until next time…

Mertz

I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.

* * *

Chapter 18:

Six months later:

Romelle smiles as she finishes zipping up Allura's dress for her. The princess turns around to face her with a smile on her face to ask, "So how do I look?"

Letting her eyes drift over Allura's figure, Romelle takes in the emerald sundress she is wearing. With three-quarter length sleeves that cover most of her scarred arm, the dress dips lower in front, highlighting her bosom and drawing the eyes there instead of to the slight scarring that is visible on her neck and cheek. Her hair is up in its traditional style of braids holding back the front while the rest flows down her back to her waist.

A sweet smile crosses Romelle's face as she replies, "You look beautiful and you know it."

Allura smiles back then twirls around in the dress before her laughing. She stops to face Romelle again, "So where is Keith taking me?"

Laughing, the princess shakes her head, "I don't know…he wouldn't even give me a clue. He just asked that I help you dress and be ready to go."

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Out in the hallway, Keith listens as Dr. Orion finishes giving him instructions, "Keep her out of direct sunlight as much as possible. Hot water will be very uncomfortable as well." He hands the commander a slip of paper with instructions on it, "Also keep her skin hydrated as much as possible."

Keith nods and thanks the doctor before opening the door to walk into the room. His eyes light up when he sees the smile on Allura's face as she turns to face him. Holding his arms out, Allura runs into them and he holds her close to him.

Smiling at the couple, Romelle clears her throat to gain their attention. As her cousin pulls far enough away to turn her head, she says with a wink, "I'll just leave you two alone…" As she walks to the door, Romelle adds, "Have fun." and walks away.

Turning back to her fiancé, Allura leans up to kiss him. Sighing, he enjoys the moment but then Keith reluctantly pulls back, "We won't get out of here at all at this rate…" Taking her elbow, he leads her out of the room. As they walk along the hallway, she leans her head against his shoulder as she asks, "Where are you taking me?"

Smiling to himself, Keith replies, "It is a surprise…"

The princess sighs disappointedly and Keith keeps himself from laughing at her as he leads her out of the castle to where Black lion is waiting. Pausing in her step, Allura looks up at the big black cat and shudders slightly. He watches her as she looks Black lion over and a sudden mewling sound leaves the big cat.

Shocked, Allura turns to look at Keith, who smiles softly at her, "He's trying to say he is sorry."

Turning back to the lion, Allura looks back up at the big metallic cat before turning back to him, "Where are we going?"

Keith reaches for her cheek and caresses it before pulling Allura to him to hug her as he whispers into her ear, "We are going for a ride in Black…to a place of fond memories." Pulling back slightly, he looks deeply into her sapphire blue gaze before asking, "Think you can handle it?"

Looking away from him and back up at the lion, Allura hesitantly nods her head. Keith smiles at her then pulls her along into the lion's cockpit. As he takes his seat in the command chair, the princess looks around the lion, spying a picnic basket and two blankets. The lion makes another mewling sound and she turns back to Keith, who smiles at her solemnly, "He is asking for forgiveness Allura."

Tentatively, the princess reaches for the dash and touches it lightly with her scarred right hand. Black lion makes a purring sound as Allura whispers, "It's okay boy…"

Wiping tears from her eyes, she turns back to Keith, moving over to sit down in his lap and burys her face into his shoulder as she continues to cry. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, Keith turns his head to kiss the side of her head and quietly says her name. He keeps his lips near her head as he repeats it, "Allura…"

She slowly pulls her face away from his shoulder to look into his eyes. As his fingers wipe the tears away from her cheeks, he quietly asks, "Are you all right? Do you want to get out?"

Shaking her head, Allura takes his hand from her cheek and kisses it. Curling back into his chest, she whispers, "Fly…"

Keith leans forward and places the key into the control. As Black stands with a resounding roar, Allura tightens her grip on him as he whispers to her, "It will be all right…"

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Landing Black lion at Alissera Falls, Keith pauses to take in the beauty on the monitor before turning back to Allura. Rubbing her back, he whispers her name to gain her attention. She pulls away from him to look out the monitors then looks back at Keith in askance, "Fond memories?"

His eyes darkening slightly, he leans toward her and kisses her, his tongue lightly running along her lips before he pulls back, "I have extremely fond memories of that cave under the falls…"

Flushing, Allura remembers their last trip here with the team. Chuckling, Keith stands up, her body sliding down along his as he sets her back down. As her flush deepens, he smiles at her, kisses her lightly then pulls away from her to go pick up the picnic basket and blankets.

Turning around, he gestures to the side hatch, "Shall we?"

Nodding, Allura turns to the side and steps out on the lift with Keith. As it lowers to the ground, she looks around and notices that he had landed Black right next to the pool's edge. Stepping onto the ground, she looks at Keith, "Why is Black so close?"

Smiling at her, he gestures her to follow him underneath the lion. Stepping into the shadowed area, he sets down the basket then spreads one of the blankets out on the ground. Holding out his hand to her, Keith finally replies, "Dr. Orion said to keep your exposure to direct sunlight to a minimum love."

Allura takes his hand and steps into his arms. Aligning her body along his, she lets out a sigh when she feels him kiss the top of her hand. Then, she feels Keith move her hair aside. Hearing the zipper going down along the back of her dress and feeling the cool air along her skin has Allura turning her face into the crook of his neck, kissing him gently.

He groans softly as she nips then licks the area near his ear making him pull away from her. Allura reaches for him but Keith grabs her hands to stop her, "Don't be in such a rush love…we have all afternoon together."

"But…" a finger to her lips stops her retort as he continues, "I want you naked Allura…but I'm not ready to make love to you yet." She looks up at him in askance but Keith only chuckles at her. Leaning forward he kisses her lightly on the lips and whispers, "Patience love…trust me."

His hands move up along her arms, pulling the sleeves of her dress down. She steps out of it and Keith folds it carefully and sets it aside. Smiling down at her, he reaches for her hair and gently pulls it out of its braids.

Once her hair forms a golden curtain around her, Keith's eyes meet hers as he states, "I've always wanted to do that…" He glances down her body then spots her underwear, "Can't have that…" He pulls them down along her legs and sets them on top of her dress, leaving her gloriously naked. Standing up, he looks her over as he states, "All you would need to be Lady Godiva is a horse to ride…"

Curious, Allura asks, "Who is Lady Godiva?"

Smiling, Keith gestures to her to sit down on the blanket. Once she is seated, he begins to pull off his own clothing as he tells her, "Lady Godiva is an English lore from Earth. The tale goes that she was married to a cruel man who imposed oppressive taxes on his peasants." Allura's mouth becomes dry as his shirt comes off, exposing his muscular chest, and he bends over to remove his boots as he continues to talk, "She begged him to be more lenient and his reply was he would repeal the taxes when she rode through the local village naked."

Allura's eyes move from Keith's body, to his face as she looks up at him in horror, "Her own husband wanted her to go riding naked through the streets?"

He smiles at her as he unbuttons then pulls the pants down, leaving him only in his underwear, "Yes, she agreed to do it too. However, she asked the villagers to remain in their homes and not look as she rode through."

Still horror stuck by the thought, Allura continues to ignore the fact that he is slowly removing the last bit of his clothing as she asks, "Did they do as asked?"

A sardonic smile crosses his face when he realizes Allura is so taken with the story that she has yet to notice that he is naked and sitting down beside her, he replies, "Well, the story goes that all, except a young man named Tom, respected her wishes. He peeked through some holes in the shutters of his home. Some say he was stuck blind when he did so, but that is where the term Peeping Tom came about on Earth."

Smiling, Allura recalls, "You called Lance that once…I always wondered what it meant." Keith smiles at her but before he can reply, she asks, "So did her husband keep to his side of the bargain?"

A laugh escapes Keith as he replies, "The legends say that he was so shocked that she actually did it, that yes…he repealed some of the taxes…"

Allura nods her head then finally looks over at Keith. He can tell when she notices his nakedness with her eyes darkening and she moves over to curl into him. Smiling, Keith reaches for her, but instead of pulling her closer, he urges her to lie down on the blanket, "Not yet love…roll over onto your stomach."

He almost laughs at the look of frustration on her face as she rolls on her belly as asked and props her face onto her arms. He gently pushes her hair to one side of her then reaching into the basket, Keith pulls out a bottle of body oil. He pours some onto his hands then rubbing them together, he warms the oil before massaging it into her back.

Moving from her buttocks up to her shoulders, Keith kneads his palms into the muscles of her back and listens to the satisfied groan that leaves Allura as he feels her begin to relax. Grabbing the bottle once again, Keith adds more oil to his hand, and then moves along each of her legs before rubbing the soles of her feet.

Her eyes closed, Allura sighs deeply as he works his way back up her body, stopping along her buttocks to massage them more thoroughly than he had the rest. Half-asleep with her eyes closed, she is pulled from her sleepy state when he tells her, "Turn over…"

Groaning in irritation, Allura turns over onto her back and gazes into Keith's dark eyes as he works both of her arms over, his fingers teasing any tension out of her before he moves to her chest. As his fingers move between her breasts, rubbing the sweet smelling oil into her flesh, Allura finally closes her eyes and lets sleep claim her.

Noticing that he is losing her, Keith leans over her and kisses her until she opens her eyes. Sleepy sapphire eyes gaze up at him as he whispers, "If you go to sleep love…you will miss out on the rest."

"Rest?" Her hands reach up to touch his face as she replies drowsily, "What rest?"

Keith pulls away from her to pull some fruit out of the basket. Taking a sweet strawberry, he bites the tip off then leaning back over Allura, he rubs the berry along her nipples. She watches him closely as he leans down and first licks, then sucks on the nipple, drawing the flavor off it.

Arching her back, she murmurs, "Keith…" moving her fingers into his hair and holding him to her. Lifting himself up, Keith takes the berry again, rubbing it along her lips, turning them a vibrant red. He then places the berry between his lips as he lowers his mouth to hers.

Allura's tongue snatches the berry from his mouth and she chews it as his tongue licks the remaining flavoring from her lips. Opening her mouth once finished, his tongue darts in, warring with hers for control of the kiss.

Breaking the kiss, Keith whispers, "You taste sweet…"

Smiling, Allura pushes on his shoulders to get him to sit up. He sits cross-legged as she crawls onto his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. He smiles at her as he teases her by asking, "What do you want?"

Allura leans forward and wraps her hands around his neck as she whispers against his lips, "You inside of me…" and kisses him. Her lips stay near his as she adds, "Stop teasing me Keith…" before she presses them against his once more as her hand drifts between them to stroke his hardened shaft.

A soft moan escapes Keith as he pulls back to whisper, "Your wish is my command, milady…" and cups her bottom as he lifts her slightly. Seating her upon his erection, he slips his tongue back inside of her mouth as he pulls her down until he completely fills her. Allura sighs against his lips as he tugs on her hips to set the rhythm, slow and sensuous. Arching forward, she cries out as her sensitive nipples rub against the hardness of his chest with each movement.

Losing her sense of time and space, Allura continues to move against him. Listening to his groans of pleasure, she moves her hands down his back to cup his firm backside as she breaks the kiss to suck on his earlobe. Unable to take the limits of the position any longer, Keith flips them over so that he lies on top of her and increases the pace and depth of his thrusts.

She throws her head back and arches her body up into him as she grips onto his shoulders in ecstasy. Crying out his name as she nears orgasm, Allura thrusts her hips up at him as he grinds himself down into her. She looks up to find Keith staring intently at her as he thrusts hard into her once more. They come together, each crying out into the ear of the other as he falls against her. Feeling a bit like a limp rag doll, Allura barely notices him flipping them over a few moments later so that she is lying on his chest. She feels him brush a kiss against her hair before she lifts her head to stare into his eyes. He smiles at her, running his fingers along her cheek as he asks, "Are you all right?"

Managing a, "Mmmhmm", Allura puts her head back down on Keith's chest and feeling his hands stroking her hair, falls asleep.

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Allura awakens some time later to find herself alone on the blanket, a second blanket covering her. Sitting up, she hears a splash of water and looks out over the water to find Keith swimming the length of the pool. Her eyes stay on his firm muscular buttocks as he moves in the water. Deciding to join him, she stands up then moves to dive into the water only to hear his voice calling out, "No Allura! No diving!"

She stills as he swims over to her and holds out his hand to help her gently down into the water. Keith hugs her close to him as he whispers into her ear, "You have to be careful love...anything that puts too much pressure on your skin..."

A deep sigh escapes Allura as she feels Keith's lips near her ear. Pulling back to look into his dark eyes, she replies, "I know...I wasn't thinking..."

Keith smiles down into her face before lowering his mouth to hers. Kissing her passionately, his tongue dances sensually with her as his fingers slide under her hair, caressing the soft skin of her back before sliding down to grasp her buttocks and pulling her tight against his hardened groin.

Gasping against his mouth, Allura releases a groan as his shaft brushes against her lower abdomen. Stepping back to create some space between them, she reaches for him, her fingers sliding up and down the pulsing member, causing him to shudder with pleasure.

"Keith...lift me..."

Her soft, eager request fills his ears, delighting him as Keith picks her up as commanded. She wraps her long legs around his waist as he pushes into her. Pausing briefly to enjoy the feel of her body surrounding him, he releases a chuckle as she lets out a sound of impatience and grasps his shoulders to try to move against him.

"Allura...love..." Keith stops as her blazing eyes meet his and she whispers, "Now..."

Nodding, he arches his back and using his hips, thrusts himself in and out of her eager body as Allura groans with pleasure. He holds her effortlessly, his pounding pushing her closer and closer to the edge. After raining kisses along her neck and chest, Keith pulls a rosy nipple into his mouth, sucking hard on it. Allura sobs out her pleasure, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she grinds her hips down hard against the next up thrust, pushing him deeper within her.

As she nears completion, she whimpers into his ear, "More...I need more..."

Groaning, he grips Allura's buttocks firmly as he grinds his hips against her, pushing in as deep as he can until he has nothing left. As her cry of ecstasy echoes into his ears, Keith lets himself go, shuddering with joy as he releases himself into her body.

With the princess going limp in his arms, Keith pulls out of her and gently lowers her back into the water, his arms around her to keep her close to him as he whispers, "I love you..."

Recovering slowly, Allura pulls back to look up into his eyes as she smiles at him then leans up to kiss him. Breaking the kiss, she lays her head under his neck as she whispers, "I can't wait until tomorrow..." Looking back up at him as he arches a brow at her, Allura finishes, "You will be mine, forever."

Returning her smile, Keith kisses her briefly before replying, "I hate to inform you of this, my love...but I've always been yours." He kisses passionately again before adding, "A marriage certificate isn't going to make a difference where that is concerned."

"Yes it does..." Allura argues with him as she reaches up with a hand to caress his cheek, "Legally, you will be mine and they will never be able to take you from me ever again." The intensity in Keith's eyes increases as he dips his head down to take possession of her mouth. With his arms like steel bands, holding her tight to him, Allura releases a sigh of contentedness.

Keith closes his eyes as he holds her close to him, thinking, '_It's going to be a long time before she gets over that fear of me being taken away...'_ His lips move into her hair, kissing it softly before he opens his eyes and whispers, "We better start back..."

As Allura pulls away to look up into his face, he adds, "Nanny needs to finish fitting you for your gown and you need to rest tonight."

Her hands tighten on his arms as she states, "You are sleeping with me..."

Smiling, he nods, "It's the only place I want to be..."

Relaxing, Allura allows Keith to lift her up out of the water. Her eyes stay on him as he pulls himself out then picks up a towel to gently start wiping her dry. As he finishes, Keith notes the look in her eyes and groans, "No more Allura..."

His gently kisses her once more then pushes her over to her clothing, "Get dressed love."

Keeping himself from laughing at the disgruntled look on her face, Keith wipes himself dry then steps up behind her to help her zip the dress back up. He pulls her so her back is against his chest then whispers into her ear, "After tomorrow...we have the rest of our lives to make love."

After placing a kiss near her ear, Keith releases her to pick up his clothing. Allura sighs as she watches him start to dress. Resigning herself to leaving, she moves to pick up the remains of their picnic lunch and then letting Keith pick up the basket, follows him back into the lion.

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The next afternoon, Coran smiles as he watches Allura walk up to him with Nanny just behind, holding up the train to her dress. As she stops before him, the advisor takes in the dress, the veil and the beautiful woman inside of it before saying, "Your father would be proud of you Allura. You have gone from being a willful young girl in charge of a ruined planet to a beautiful woman who is bringing her planet back to life."

She reaches out with a hand to touch his cheek and smiles at him before responding, "Thank you Coran…for always being there."

Leaning forward, he places a kiss on her forehead and fights back the tears in his eyes before continuing, "Let's get you in there…a certain gentleman is eagerly awaiting your appearance."

Nanny finishes arranging her train and veil then smiles at her, "My baby…all grown up." Allura smiles at her as the governess leans up on her toes to kiss her cheek then disappears into the church.

As the music begins, the doors in front of them open and Allura takes Coran's elbow as they begin their walk down the aisle to the love of her life. Her eyes briefly take in the decorations and the people in the pews before her gaze finds him.

He is standing at the front of the church, dressed in black formal attire. His hair is tamed back and Allura briefly takes in how his muscular form fills out the clothing before she is close enough to look into Keith's face.

His eyes are shining brightly and the smile on his face is for her alone. Allura smiles back at him as she thinks, '_He sees me…the real me…not the dress or the veil…or the scars on my face...' _She stops in front of him as Coran gives her hand to Keith, who raises it to his lips to press a kiss on it while looking deeply into her eyes.

Allura smiles as he lowers her hand and whispers, "Hello beautiful…"

Taking a step closer to him, Allura leans up and whispers by his lips, "Hello handsome…" then kisses him. As they engage in the kiss, a sudden throat clearing is heard behind Keith followed by Sven's voice, "You haven't reached that part yet my friends…"

The sound of Romelle's quiet laughter echoes behind Allura as Keith reluctantly pulls away from her to turn her to the awaiting bishop. As they walk the last few remaining steps, Keith's deep quiet voice fills her, "Let's get our life together started my love…"

A smile as bright as the sun crosses Allura's face as they stop before the bishop and she thinks, '_Yes…our life together…it's about time.'_


End file.
